A Cozy New Student Center at Coventry University

Student’s centers are those comfortable hang-out spots at universities that combine studying with social life during your years of college.

Coventry’s new student center ‘the hub’ (sited at the center of the university campus) designed byHawkins\Brown Architects is one of the best.

For many students at university, this is their first experience of living away from home. Coventry University in the UK tries to make that a little less of a sudden adjustment to the cruel world with a new student center that exudes cosiness, intimacy and security.

Covering an area of 91,000 square feet and able to comfortably accommodate 1,000 students at the same time, the new student center really gives the feeling of a home away from home in what could be a large and impersonal setting for the 10,000 students enrolled at the university.

The colorful spot provides for students’ key needs for wellness and wellbeing by providing a place to visit during the day for social and informal learning needs while creating a safe environment during the evening for entertainment.

The colors chosen have an effect. The combination – yellow, black and grey – has a hip hi-tech quality that lends an organized air to a clean and modern public space, while also being warm and inviting.

The principle cladding material—a unitized flush glazed curtain walling system—wraps around the building like a taut skin or hard shell.
On the roof, a roof terrace has been created that provides the healing peace of green space in the heart of in the city’s historic quarter famed for the post-war Coventry Cathedral, with views across extensive areas of the sedum roof.