Residential Common Spaces That Really Work: A Post-Occupancy Study

A study of nine Massachusetts campuses identifies attributes--proximity, variety, "ownership," and flexible furniture, to name a few--which may be universally applicable in the design of engaging residential common spaces. Lively and cohesive residential communities, those that engage students and create a sense of belonging, provide more than shelter and security. The most successful campus housing supports the academic and developmental needs of students. Residential common areas are the primary venue for students to form social connections and shape their communities. But sometimes we build it and they don't come. Why does one room sit empty while another is alive with activity 24-7? What types of spaces actually foster the resident students' personal, social, and academic growth? Is the money spent truly having a positive impact? The Massachusetts State College Building Authority (MSCBA), the entity that plans, designs, finances, and constructs all of the student life facilities for the system's nine campuses, decided it needed to find out. The MSCBA was undertaking an ambitious residential construction and renewal process, and it wanted to be confident that the dollars would be spent where they mattered most. The MSCBA launched the Residential Common Space Study to evaluate 15 of its new or newly renovated residential buildings and characterize in quantitative and qualitative terms the buildings' public spaces and their effect on residential communities. In short, the MSCBA sought guidelines for common space programming and design that could be readily duplicated in upcoming projects. The MSCBA hired two consultants, an architect and a planner, to work with the agency and the residential life directors on each campus. The team found dynamic residential communities on each of the campuses studied: in older and newer buildings, in halls with small and large populations, and in buildings for first-year and upper-class students. Nearly any building can house a positive community, but the best share a few themes. But, before we get to how to design great common spaces, let's look more closely at why common spaces are central to the residential experience. First, academic pedagogy is changing rapidly, with increasing emphasis on project-based learning and social interaction. Current learning theories focus on transactions between people, group work products in a variety of media, and multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.). A well-programmed residence hall is an ideal location for this nontraditional course work. Second, campuses are no longer compartmentalized--students eat in the library, take seminars in their residence hall, and do research anywhere that has Wi-Fi and a comfortable seat. Students are infinitely more connected to resources--they carry smartphones, laptops, and tablets and are able to access in seconds, information that once took hours to track down. Texting and Facebook have replaced the corridor as the location for casual interaction. Paradoxically, this connectivity can be isolating, and residence halls designed for earlier generations inadvertently isolate students further by providing very little space for them to have face-to-face conversations. They need places to MIRL (meet in real life) outside of their dorm rooms. Finally, college is not exclusively an academic experience. We hope that our students are also learning how to be adults and members of society. College is usually the first setting where they are obliged to wash their own laundry, get themselves to class on time, and wait politely for the next available shower. They encounter new ideas, form and reform groups, and learn to tolerate differences. They pursue personal interests, take on leadership opportunities, and start to see themselves as individuals connected to a larger community. Much of this part of the college experience takes place in the common spaces of residence halls. …