Paris Gardens is situated on London’s Southbank, with a wide appeal to numerous students; as it is well located for King’s College London, the University of Westminster, London South Bank University, the University of the Arts and Anglia Ruskin University. The building features a roof terrace with far reaching views across the capital and a range of student accommodation options, from studios and apartments to penthouses. Living standards expected by today’s students denote a strong desire for more communal study and leisure spaces, The original space for such use at Paris Gardens was tired and dark and iQ found that students were therefore not really making use of it. Our brief was to design more exciting, bright and comfortable areas for study and recreation. The new concept also needed to suit the existing space and maximise the use of the environment. We undertook a survey and created a design concept for the project, which included a full pack of design intent drawings, detailing and furniture specification schedules.
The resultant solution creates specific areas for independent and group study and also places for students to relax and unwind. Although it is an open plan space, it has been effectively divided up with timber slat screens to create different zones of use, allowing light to permeate, without closing off the space too much.
Upon entry, the first area is for study, offering students the option to utilise study booths, a ‘floating’ study bench or the large communal study table. These have been designed to encourage both group and independent study.
The second zone is a break-out space for lounging or leisure, where students can congregate in a more relaxed environment. This area is taken up with a TV lounge, which offers students somewhere to relax in front of the TV, play games or watch movies.
The overall environment is bright, comfortable and calm, with subtle pops of bright colours, which include the iQ brand colours. A combination of woods add warmth to the space.
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