Here’s how to create a community vibe in your student housing.
Clubhouses in student housing are more than just a gathering space for students. These days, they are an essential element in fostering community and belonging among residents. Clubhouse spaces provide an avenue for students to interact with each other, creating opportunities for them to build lasting relationships and support systems.
Apart from social benefits, community clubhouses also serve as a hub for academic activities. They offer quiet spaces that help students concentrate on their studies away from the distractions of their apartments.
Infusing clubhouse-style elements into your student housing can help residents get the most from their college experience.In this blog post, we’ll discuss:
Flexible Seating and Furniture
Good seating makes your student clubhouse functional. Modular furniture, including chairs, ottomans, and tables, lets students arrange and use these pieces however they need. Tables with built-in charge stations are perfect for study sessions or allowing residents to charge their devices on-the-go.
Seating and furniture cater to three criteria: comfort, flexibility, and durability. Comfortable pieces will be used more often, while flexible items can serve more than one purpose. Durability matters too, as each piece of furniture is likely to be used by multiple people each day. Durable pieces will last longer, plus they’ll stay looking like new for longer, too.
Gaming and Entertainment Areas
Students tend to have more time for games and leisure, given that many don’t have full-time jobs. However, a lack of a full-time job also means students seek out cheap or free entertainment, which a student housing clubhouse can provide.
Options might include:
- Video game stations
- Pool tables
- Foosball tables
- Air hockey
- Darts
- Board games
- Giant versions of classic games (like oversized Jenga or Chess)
- A music streaming systemVarious entertainment options give residents plenty of ways to enjoy the clubhouse, plus they can foster socialization and community-building.
Technology
Students heavily rely on technology, not only as part of their studies, but also to unwind when they’re not in class. A student housing clubhouse should provide high-speed internet and printing stations to support the student journey in and out of the classroom.
Smart devices and entertainment systems are also common fixtures in student clubhouses. Cash-strapped students can reap the benefits of these items without having to purchase their own, which may provide some financial relief.
Study and Collaboration Spaces
Another hallmark of student housing clubhouses is spaces dedicated to study and collaboration. These spaces can be a mix of one-person desks or “phone booths” or multi-person meeting rooms for group projects. Technology like whiteboards, video conferencing, and screen-sharing capabilities can also improve collaboration.
Snack and Beverage Stations
Making foods and beverages more accessible to students supports their health, wellness, and academic performance. Adding snack and beverage stations in a student housing community clubhouse puts nutrition within arm’s reach and can save valuable time versus going to a restaurant, grocery store, or the school cafeteria.
Common fixtures include coffee stations, vending machines, mini-fridges, and even staffed snack bars.
Outdoor Spaces
Clubhouses aren’t just confined to four walls. Create the total package by including outdoor spaces that foster community, socialization, and support.
This might be adding barbecue grills to green spaces, patios with fire pits, or grassy areas for cornhole. These areas help students get fresh air and sunlight, both of which can improve physical and mental health. Plus, they create more opportunities to meet new people and form lasting bonds with other students.
Safety and Security Features
No student (or their parents) want to think twice about their safety. Clubhouses should offer a “members only” look and feel, ensuring that only residents have access to them and all their amenities.
To maintain a high level of safety and security, it is mandatory to include smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, security cameras, and access codes so that every resident feels welcome and safe.
How to Design Your Student Community Clubhouse
Student housing is a big part of the overarching college experience, and students are expecting more from the places where they live and learn. Offering student housing community clubhouses gives schools a way to stand out from other colleges by promoting a higher quality of student life, both inside and outside of the classroom. Housing options that offer physical accommodations like seating and furniture, gaming and entertainment areas, technology like high-speed internet and printer access, study spaces, snack and beverage access, outdoor spaces, and safety and security give students the total package.
Preparing for the next stage of life isn’t just about what you know, but also who you know and how you can help each other along the journey. Clubhouses promote this sense of socialization and community, ensuring that students have safe spaces to meet, learn and grow together, and form lasting friendships.
Learn more about what it takes to create the student clubhouse experience by contacting our design team.