Carly West (Interior Architecture BA(Hons) 2010) and Tom Munson (Interior Architecture BA(Hons) 2011) worked on a state-of-the-art redesign of learning spaces with the university’s estates department and Professor Anne Boddington. The Social and Informal Learning Space (SILS) project was based on the university’s learning and teaching research through its Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD).
The flagship prototype design of the Watts Building was awarded the inaugural Association of University Directors of Estates’ Impact Award. The SILS programme was designed to repurpose spaces across the university’s campuses so they could be more effectively deployed for students and staff to learn and socialise.
The SILS programme identified many small opportunities to distinguish and enhance the university’s environment through creative yet minimal transformations designed with the local users of the buildings – students and staff. It was commended for creating a “transformative and social heart to the building” by offering a thoughtfully designed, economical, fit-for-purpose areas which provided new facilities, informal seating and new areas for group work, studying, networking and socialising; a student-facing, student-run enquiry service; improved IT provision, display screens and enhanced Wi-Fi internet access among other features.