For the first time in University history, a new lounge is being built based entirely off of student suggestions. In response to feedback regarding the already existing study spaces on campus, a new lounge is projected to open in Exley Science Center as early as this December.

Although there are a variety of locations on campus where students can study, some students felt that their study needs weren’t being adequately met.

“It gets crowded in SciLi during Reading and Exam week, but it’s open 24 hours during that time, which helps,” said Lily Bushman-Copp ’10, who works at Circulations in the Science Library. “Still, there are never enough computers to use, or outlets to plug in your own computer. Some extra couches and chairs would open up more places for people to sit, and I would like more areas available for group study.”

The new student lounge will be located in the room formerly attached to the Science Library on the North side of Exley, with its entrance facing Pi Café. After space opened up following renovations in the Science Library, University staff realized they could turn it into a lounge when they heard a lecture encouraging student involvement in campus design.

“One of our ITS staff members heard a presentation given by Nancy Freid Foster of the University of Rochester that detailed library space being designed by students for students,” said Physical Plant Project Manager Brandi Hood.

Along with traditional study tables and chairs, the lounge will contain comfortable seating as well as movable white boards and dividers, which are designed to help facilitate both group and individual study. The additional seating is meant to alleviate the problem of overcrowding at Pi Café, since students will be allowed to bring refreshments from the café into the lounge.

According to Hood, a committee was formed to oversee a pilot project based off the ideas of Fried Foster, who was hired as a consultant. An Ethnography study was then administered to students who were utilizing Pi Café at the time. Students were selected for participation in the survey both randomly and based off of suggestions from peer advisors.

Before the study, committee members didn’t automatically assume that there was anything wrong with the existing study spaces on campus. As the survey progressed, however, they noticed patterns of students gravitating towards particular study locations. Using three main techniques to determine what students desired in a study space—mapping, photography and hypothetical designs—they sought to examine what made students prefer one study aesthetic over another.

“When we gathered additional information from the students in the early stages of this project, several of them indicated that it was often difficult to do intense studying in the study lounges or dorm rooms on campus, and yet the library wasn’t open 24 hours,” said Diane Klare, the head of reference at Olin Library and a leading member of the committee.

President Michael Roth and the administration were instrumental both in the project’s approval and in the idea to keep the new study lounge open at all times. The 24-hour access is a major theme of the project since the most common feedback from students was related to how little space there is to work after the two main libraries close.

The lounge, which the committee unofficially refers to as either the “Science Commons” or “The Fishbowl,” was designed to be easily adapted to students’ needs.

“Some of the larger points of the study were having [a] study space away from student residences that was available at any time, having mostly mobile furniture so that the room could be adapted to group and/or individual study and having both a ’relaxed’ atmosphere and a more rigid one that would promote more serious study,” Hood said.

Students who have heard of the new lounge plans are excited about the prospect of a 24-hour study space. Alice Wu ’12, who has two classes in Exley and often has labs that require group study, has often felt the effects of overcrowding at Pi Café, and echoes Bushman-Copp’s feelings regarding the lack of space.

“I think the new lounge is a very good idea because for science it is often helpful to study together,” Wu said. “If there was a 24/7 lounge, people would feel comfortable going there to study in groups at any hour of the day.”

Overall, the committee members share the students’ excitement and optimism about the success of the new lounge, despite challenges they have faced along the way.

“[The most exciting part about the project has been] working with the students to get specific ideas from them, so it became a student-driven rather than a top-down approach to space design,” Klare said.

Despite the committee’s satisfaction with the student-input approach, Klare cautioned against expecting the same method to be used on all future projects.

“I think that the members of the group who worked with the students are definitely hopeful this approach could be used again, but it is also a very time-intensive way to design even the small space that we’re piloting with this project,” she said. “But it’s gratifying to know that ultimately the space we’re designing was the result of student input, which I think is key to a successful campus space that students will really use and like.”