EDUCATIONAL & STUDENT FACILITIES
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
There is an essential connection between student wellbeing and a campus’s environment, layout and upkeep, says Paul Bean, Sales Director at The Nurture Landscapes Group. Here, he explains why.
In years gone by, a university’s history and reputation were the only things that mattered, but as tertiary education has expanded and competition tightened in the bid for students, new factors come into play. The campus is one of these. Now, the criteria has evolved to a point where the aesthetics and ambience of a campus environment embraces architectural design and materials and even landscaping. If a place feels good, then it probably is.
Having provided landscaping and ground maintenance services to a range of higher education establishments, including Cardiff Metropolitan, Cranfield University and others, The Nurture Landscapes Group has long recognised the connection between student wellbeing and a campus’s environment, layout and upkeep.
We humans are sentient creatures – decisions are often made through a combination of the emotional and the rational, in that order. We need to feel comfortable and fully confident in our choices, and it is often the heart that has the final say.
For most students, and particularly freshers for whom a university campus is the first bridge into the adult world, a sense of family and community remain important. They look forward to feeling part of a community, not just as members of an institution, whatever its academic profile.
Through their design, landscaping and upkeep, a campus can foster a sense of community and safety. Over half of the two thousand respondents of a survey conducted recently by student community forum, The Student Room, cited genuine concern about being unable to attend a physical university open day due to Covid-19 restrictions.
While there might, naturally, be some apprehension when it comes to large gatherings, having open spaces where peer groups can come together safely provides reassurance that opportunities to socialise are being prioritised.
As different campuses are scrutinised by undergraduates before making a final choice, being able to clearly visualise themselves going about the campus is bound to be important in their decision-making. So much so that location is now considered one of the top three deciding factors in selecting a university. And in a post-pandemic world, so is safety and the balance between health risks and environmental and social considerations that a campus environment can so successfully embody and convey.
Utilising and designing space not only become an important aesthetic consideration, but one of student wellbeing and peace of mind; the challenge is how to get a balance between encouraging students to socialise and study together, keeping them all as safe as possible at a time of heightened awareness of health, and designing a campus that they want to be at in the first place.
As is happening more within workplace and office settings, open plan study zones for independent working can add to a sense of being in a productive yet socially cohesive community environment. And the same goes for outdoor spaces. Meanwhile, careful use of natural plant displays and living walls as dividers, all help promote wellbeing, bringing the outside environment and sense of space indoors.
The wellbeing effects of plants have been well documented, especially with regards to emotional and mental health. In fact, student mental health has been a serious issue even before the pandemic and continues to impact heavily on their experience. Being surrounded by nature proved to be of huge support for many during the first UK lockdown, with a general rise in appreciation for the natural world as a result.
From the planting of flora around a campus estate, as demonstrated at both Brunel and Newcastle Universities, to creating green backdrops for enclosed spaces or
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