Staff and students were invited to join the West Slope design team to share thoughts and ideas on how to make West Slope communal interior spaces feel welcoming, accessible and comfortable.
Architects from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and the West Slope team used virtual reality rooms and floor plans to demonstrate how the future café and study area and new Health and Wellbeing Centre could look once complete.
Take a tour of the interior spaces in virtual reality:
Creating welcoming spaces
With a wealth of expertise within our community, staff from across the University were invited to join a workshop to get a first look at future West Slope spaces. Staff, including researchers from the School of Psychology with expertise in colour theory, and representatives from Student Experience, shared their insights on what makes an environment feel welcoming and how design elements could be used to promote wellbeing.
Students were also consulted on furnishings, colour, textures and wayfinding, and how these can be implemented to best fit the needs of building users.
A key theme of both sessions was biophilic design, which focuses on utilising natural lighting, imagery and colours such as green and blue to connect inside spaces to nature.
For those who couldn’t make it in person, we posted a poll on Instagram asking users to choose their preferred colour palettes, design features and furniture. Over 900 people took part, the results of which complemented the feedback we received in person – a preference for nature inspired interiors and for individual seating and study spaces.
What happens next
All the ideas, advice and preferences both in workshops and online will be used to inform the next stage of the design process and will support design decisions in West Slope communal spaces.
By involving the community in the design process, we aim to meet practical needs within our new buildings, and to also empower those who will visit and work in our new Health and Wellbeing Centre, café and study spaces, ensuring they are not only functional but also accessible, welcoming and comfortable.
West Slope is now under construction and the new Health and Wellbeing Centre will be the first of 22 buildings being built, and is expected to open in 2026.
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