Brief: To create a highly aspirational, super functional living environment ecosystem for students, the core of which is a compact apartment efficient to produce and delightful to live in, enriched by communal areas where students can come together to study, socialise, exercise, eat, drink, learn and live.

General Approach

We have worked with Scape on the development of their student accommodation offering since it was born in 2009, delivering over 18,000 beds across 30 sites in 3 countries (12,000 in Australia, 4,200 in UK, 300 in Ireland) and 2,600 beds in development. Over time we have helped to establish all the key elements of the concept from architecture to graphics – including the name – refining the seamless, fully integrated-user experience that is now central to the brand.

During this time, we have thrived on the design challenge of compact spaces, with their need for multifunctional solutions and stacked services to deliver overlapping activities within clearly delineated zones.

Using industrial design as a methodology, the approach that has evolved takes inspiration from submarines, yachts, planes and caravans – liberating all lost voids, taking nothing for granted and ensuring no space is wasted. We seek to tailor every element to the specifics of the user’s requirements, and to hone solutions that will work hard to support all the varied facets of their lives.

Each room has been designed as a single entity starting at 13.5 sq.m. with prefabricated bathroom pods plugged in. Its design has evolved, growing and improving through what we have learnt from each new site while maintaining the original principles of efficiency and poetry. The range of room typologies has expanded over time, creating a diversity of products within each Scape building that allows them to respond to a wider spectrum of student needs.

The rooms are orientated to maximize natural light and window views, offering connection to the surrounding area. We chose a super light, reflective and tactile palette of materials to maximize the emotion of space, while playful touches of vibrant colour create a sense of bold simplicity and sophistication.

Corridors are designed both to improve wayfinding and to support the wider Scape identity. We celebrated the risers, expressing their form to break up the linearity of the corridors and allow access for maintenance without disturbing the student’s privacy.

The generous communal living spaces that support the private rooms are an essential part of the ecosystem, representing a home from home for students. Inspired by public architecture, the wide range of social amenities, offered across a programme of shared spaces – communal kitchens, study areas, lounges and game rooms, gym, cinema etc. – seek to engage the user creating a wide range of opportunities for interaction.

A palette of hardwearing industrial finishes work hard in high traffic areas. Exposed concrete, rough sawn timber and plywood, enlivened by pops of colour and vibrant graphics, help build a creative narrative in sympathy with the students.

Fixed furniture acts as landmarks in dialogue with an eclectic collection of moveable elements to create zoned areas loosely containing different activities, keeping boundaries blurred to maximize flexibility and responsiveness while establishing a sense of connection, openness and free flow of light.

We have been working with Scape advising on sustainability relating to our scope as Interior Designer across all their projects. In recent years this has expanded to incorporate wider advice on application of Passivhaus principles, prefabrication, modularisation and procurement with a view to improving speed and efficiency in manufacture and installation, minimising material and energy waste and reducing environmental impact across the board.

 Our most comprehensive project in terms of prefabrication and modularisation was the student accommodation tower we designed for Scape in Wembley. It has been recognised as the tallest modular tower in Europe (27 storeys containing 582 units). Its extraordinarily fast programme – nine months from ground works to occupation was made possible by the application of a completely new design logic dictated by heavy levels of off-site prefabrication which minimised waste as well as supporting quality control. Our experience on this project confirmed our belief in the efficiency of prefabrication and its potential for keeping construction cost and programme under control.