Shaping the Future of Student Living: Adapting to New Work and Learning Norms Post-COVID
It is no shock that the changes in work and learning behaviour over the past year have instigated a cultural shift that many want to see become the norm. In a recent survey of 50 big employers, highlighted by the BBC – 24 of these said they had no plans to return workers to the office full time.
With education being a pre-cursor to prepare us all for the world of work, it is far from a knee-jerk reaction that universities consider what this means for future students. Planning how their estates and offering can best accommodate what students want and need from their organisations in a post-covid world.
In the THE Estates Management Symposium in March 2021, representatives from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, York, Nottingham and UCL, alongside Savills, Balfour Beatty and UPP, were discussing Building Confidence in the Future of Universities.
The impact of these conversations should not be underestimated. They provide great insight for PBSA, Coliving and BTR as to how young people's experiences may change regarding education. This will impact their accommodation, career, and lifestyle choices going forward.
Study patterns and the impact on the university estate
We learned at THE Estates Symposium that all universities are discussing how they can deliver a more flexible learning experience that supports digital and physical delivery. From providing in-person opportunities for a practical workshop to an 'on-demand' digital course - and everything in between.
When surveyed, most students supported a hybrid model that enabled face-to-face workshops and practical seminars with tutors. Still, when it comes to the large group lecture sessions, they saw little benefit in this delivery being in-person. The question for universities is how will their large and expensive estates be used when significant sections of the curriculum are remotely delivered?
It seems clear that 'state-of-the-art' lecture theatres could quickly become outdated. So, universities will be left with large spaces, purpose-built for something that may no longer be required. Estate Directors' challenge is how to best to plan and, let's not forget – fund, the future estate to meet this imminent hybrid model.
This discussion also extends to how universities used space in response to Covid. To keep a university covid secure, large outdoor/indoor well-ventilated areas have been in high demand. With car parks and other large spaces being passed over to social space. Will the influx of 'pop-up' social and learning spaces utilising the outdoors continue?
Space and how it is used is an important one. Whilst the notion of using a library to borrow a book is an outdated concept, students still seek quiet but social space – something many universities noted about how busy their libraries have continued to be. Is 'social study space' the next in-demand student need?
The collaborative co-working spaces that we have seen develop over the last few years may be a good blueprint for universities to follow—an area where study, community, collaboration and networking seamlessly combine.
All this feeds into the fact that the way students spend their time at university – studying, working, and socialising - will change. The solution is complex and one that will need to see the physical and digital transformation of estates combine. One consideration is that universities will have to elevate the on-site student experience even further so that students get so much more from a once or twice weekly trip to campus for a practical seminar. If students are making an effort to commute in, universities need to ensure that all their study, social and exercise requirements are met. This will give them a reason to return or stay longer on the campus or maybe come to campus even on a day with no physical lectures. Covid has taught us that whilst we may not always need face-to-face teaching or meetings, we still like to collaborate and be with people.
What does this mean for the student home?
Student accommodation is an integral part of the university cog, a wholesale change to how learning is delivered will impact how students live.
The rite of passage to move away from home and start to be independent is still an important one. The majority of young people will still choose to live away from home to study, whether delivered in-person or remotely, for at least part of their course. The need to socialise, engage and be part of your peer community is one that we all know we need, but just like employees, students now see that the demand that they are physically in a place at a particular time is no longer as strong as it was.
In many respects, the student home becomes more than just the place where they stay at their university. It becomes the place that they choose to be – a place that enables them to connect physically and virtually with study and their peers – as and when they choose. What may change is the importance of proximity to the campus? If you are only required for physical seminars two days a week at your university in Leeds and your best friend studies at Sheffield – it is conceivable that you both can live in the same city.
Whilst, we can work to make it attractive for students to choose still to live in their university town, whether for personal, work or financial reasons, others will decide to travel to campus only when required for physical lectures. Student accommodation should not be a barrier to this; actually, it can provide a solution. If a student wants to stay and connect with a study group, friends, campus one or two nights a week or a week a term – the sector can make this happen.
If universities and accommodation providers both have the exact requirement to engage students back to campus for more than just study, a greater level of collaboration is needed. Ensuring a seamless relationship with campus - digitally and physically - will be a great pull for a student to decide to still locate to the place of their university.
Impacts on design
If flexible work and study become the norm, we will use and design our homes differently. No doubt this is already being considered in design meetings for new developments. Because the time to react is now.
At the THE symposium Katrina Kostic-Samen from Savills discussed research into what the future work/study spaces may look like. Understanding development timelines, they are canvassing the next generation about their needs. They found that for 13 – 14-year-olds, the three pillars they believe are important are access to daylight, food, outdoor space and quiet space. Are developers listening to this next generation's needs and considering how university campus may change when it comes to design?
Yet, it is more than just a collaboration with universities and customers to consider. If universities indicate a move to flexible learning, then the planning regulations, which often restrict PBSA to full-time students, need to modernize for the new world. Again, collaboration with Government, universities and operators would be beneficial here.
All this contributes further to the vision of Coliving to be able to support all rental requirements. With the Government recently announcing a renewed focus on apprenticeships and further education to ensure parity with higher education, why shouldn't vocational students make up part of our student and young professional communities?
If the time on campus becomes reduced, the importance of the home increases. Do PBSA rooms and shared spaces live up to this requirement? The view of The Property Marketing Strategists is that student accommodation providers should be innovating to provide more productive areas, which utilises light, space and flexible design to optimise for much more comfortable learning space. It isn't just about the personal space either. There is an opportunity to create a mini-campus, social, study, leisure space within our community spaces – which bring non-residents to your door and truly make off-campus accommodation a welcomed subsidiary of the university campus community.
Like the lecture theatre, how do student accommodation operators repurpose space for this new world? Cinema rooms that spend most of the day unused can be repurposed to support students who want to attend an online lecture or workshop together?
If the home becomes an essential study space, then the development of outdoor space and improvement of daylight/lighting must move forward. It shouldn't just be a tick-box exercise. We need to rethink lighting for continuous study, create flexible space for collaborative study sessions and ensuring students can still separate home from work. A space optimised for wellbeing and productivity becomes even more vital.
Finally, we are being urged by the science community to be aware that pandemics may become more regular. Whilst the UK government sets up a new task force to prepare for the next pandemic, how do we make sure that new developments provide the ventilation and outdoor/indoor social spaces that can boost their ability to function if indeed the worst happens again?
The time is now
From The Property Marketing Strategists' view, the PBSA industry can't move slowly in bringing design innovation forward. Universities and student accommodation providers are in the same storm of change. Collaborating on study structures, course lengths, and how buildings can be used in the imminent future will afford immense benefits to both sectors; and, most importantly, make your product more attractive for the ultimate customer.
If the Coliving communities' emergence has taught us anything, people want to be part of a community. So, let's make a student community full access to all types of that community – and give them the flexibility of the product to study, live and socialise how they choose. Wouldn't it be amazing if students could become nomadic and travel the world staying in different accommodation, doing short-term courses in other countries? Students should still benefit from that student experience, regardless of how short or long their course is.
There is a lot of work to be done. The whole sector has to cycle forward, and this will be much more seamless for the customer if it is done in collaboration.
If you are considering your strategy for the future, The Property Marketing Strategists can help. Contact us if you would like to discuss how we may help or if you just want to pick our brains on a couple of questions you can use our new bitesize services.
