Following the completion of Bargate House, a multi-award-winning student accommodation and regeneration scheme in Southampton built offsite by Stelling Properties, we interview Richard Powell COO of the building operators, Unilife Student Living, and look at his perspective on the project and any lessons learned.
What do you think of the finished building?
“It is amazing! The high ceilings of the former Bank of England building have helped to create incredible student spaces. Feedback from residents since we opened has been fantastic.”
What is your target market for this facility?
“We are very much at the higher end of the student offer. The building specification was developed with Stelling’s design team with more international or mature – postgraduate and masters – students in mind.
We want to give these students the independence of self-contained living accommodation combined with a sense of community from outstanding communal spaces where we can host events and encourage socialisation.
As a business, we have really strong values and genuinely care about our students’ wellbeing to support their academic success. These values are central to everything we do and are reflected in the level of design detailing and the high standard of construction work Stelling does with us.”
How are the needs of your target demographic different to the undergraduate sector of the student market?
“We have looked closely at what our students want. Every apartment in Bargate House has a kitchen with an oven, microwave and induction hob. The finishes are higher specification such as quartz worktops in the kitchens, rainfall showers, privacy blinds as well as curtains, and a dining table.
We have also listened to their thoughts on access and security and have developed an NFC (near field communication) system which allows the building to be entered using an app.”
Have you introduced any new features into this latest addition to Unilife’s property portfolio?
“We are continually reviewing our offer and every project incorporates feedback from students to inform the design of our next scheme.
This is our first residence to have curtains – our students suggested that curtains have a cosier feel than blinds. We have large oriel windows at Bargate House that flood the studios with natural light, increasing the footprint of each apartment with generous upholstered window seating, and are angled to maintain privacy.Other new features include the cinema room, an arcade machine in the games room, a high specification gymnasium and we have private study booths for the first time.
We will be looking very closely at feedback from our first cohort of students in Bargate House, to inform the design of future premium residences.”
How did you capture the feedback from students?
“We use a range of methods. On this project we organised focus groups with existing Unilife students who looked at different interior design themes, colours and materials – vibrant, natural and urban palettes.
Students received questionnaires, presentations and mood boards. Their input was invaluable and as a result we developed a hybrid design theme which combined both natural and urban colours for the living accommodation with vibrant pops of colour for the communal spaces.
We also visited students in China so we can fully understand what they need from us as accommodation providers and so they settle in well from the outset. Chinese students cannot access Google for example, so we needed to find an alternative to Google Maps to help them find their way around the city.”
What was your vision for the social spaces?
“Unilife specialises in smaller properties where we can foster and encourage this feeling of belonging – whether that is by hosting events or the accessibility of our house supervisors.
Students love the sense of community and family in our buildings.
At Bargate House, all the communal facilities are located in the restored building which has a unique character. These include private study booths, games room, cinema room, gymnasium, lounges, communal kitchen and dining facilities and a landscaped roof terrace.”
What benefits did modular construction bring to this project?
“Modular construction is fantastic and Stelling’s system lends itself so well to this type of multi-occupancy residential building.
There are the practical benefits of offsite construction – reduced build time, less disruption on site and we can develop a highly constrained site where there is no space for materials storage or equipment.
Offsite manufacturing of the studios helps us to innovate. We can walk around an apartment in the factory to provide feedback before going into full production
We took groups of students to see a prototype, furnished studio in the factory. They could walk around the apartment and give us their feedback before we went into full production. We could trial different interior design features such as mood lighting and could even check the height of the rainfall shower by standing in it!”
What lessons have been learned from this project?
“Collaboration is absolutely vital at every level.
Firstly, collaboration with the Stelling team in the design and construction phases and secondly by using the input of students to directly inform the design of Bargate House and to feed into our next projects.
This scheme has also highlighted how we can use factory visits to look really closely at the design detailing by bringing students into the design process as well as the Unilife team. This is all part of our attention to detail and has worked so well on this project. We will definitely be expanding these early-stage collaborations with students on our next projects.
There are the practical benefits of offsite construction – reduced build time, less disruption on site and we can develop a highly constrained site where there is no space for materials storage or equipment.
Offsite manufacturing of the studios helps us to innovate. We can walk around an apartment in the factory to provide feedback before going into full production
We took groups of students to see a prototype, furnished studio in the factory. They could walk around the apartment and give us their feedback before we went into full production. We could trial different interior design features such as mood lighting and could even check the height of the rainfall shower by standing in it!”
How are you reducing Unilife’s carbon footprint?
“Bargate House has strong environmental credentials which include MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery), precision offsite manufacturing of the studio apartments to reduce heat loss, and the use of renewable energy from roof-mounted solar panels.
The use of offsite construction also reduced material waste and vehicle movements to site during the build phase, and secondary glazing has been added in the original building to improve energy efficiency.
www.unilife.co.uk”