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Bradford University How the eco-friendly student village might look Students want low-rise, eco-friendly accommodation, divided into small units, says commissioning research for a new £21m student village.
The University of Bradford in West Yorkshire is planning a Sustainable Student Village for 1,000 students.
Some have been helping to design it - and project managers say students now expect green features "as standard".
Students say smaller housing units - with about six residents in each - would make them feel safer.
The University of Bradford is about to begin the tendering process for building its campus village.
Recycling
In developing this project, the university has been working with students to find out what they expect from accommodation.
Sustainable village Students say they feel safer in smaller housing units
Among the findings are that students do not want high-rise, apartment block halls of residence, which can be too impersonal, noisy and can leave them feeling unsafe.
They prefer to live in smaller units where they can get to know the people living around them, with their own bedroom and sharing a kitchen.
So the intention is to build terraces, divided into these smaller houses.
Jaime Sullivan of the university's Ecoversity project says many students have come from schools with modern buildings and technology - and expect to have facilities such as internet access and wi-fi.
Some want single-sex accommodations, while others prefer mixed, so the university says the student village will provide both.
Mr Sullivan says that students now expect university accommodation to be environmentally-friendly - such as providing recycling facilities, energy efficiency and storage for bicycles.
Students want to have visible energy metering, so residents can see how much is being consumed, he says.
Hotel standards
Accommodation is a major issue for universities - with more affluent modern students having higher expectations of comfort, and universities using their halls of residence as part of their recruitment package.
Insurance surveys have shown that students arrive at university with equipment worth between £3,000 and £7,000 - and about a fifth will be driving their own cars.
Such students, who are paying £3,000 in fees, are less willing to rough it in spartan accommodation.
Universities have been upgrading their campus accommodation. Last year in Manchester, halls of residence were opened with a swimming pool and sauna.
As universities have expanded, there have also been tensions with neighbouring areas. When large numbers of students have moved into residential streets, there have been concerns that it can damage the local community.
This has been called "studentification", when areas become dominated by a young, transitory population of renting students.
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SEE ALSO
Young Ones or rich kids?
01 Oct 04 |
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Students shun squalor for luxury
18 May 06 |
Manchester
Student housing curb considered
07 Oct 04 |
Leicestershire
Chancellor hails green residence
23 Feb 07 |
Edinburgh and East
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