BRIEF
Clients: Student Union Building - Erin Van Horn
Timeline: 1 year
Role: Designer + UX Researcher
Collaborators: Amadea Marie Kristi + Ava Plain + Yinming Xu
Outcome: Food Court Redesign + Guidelines
This collabrative is a senior client project worked on for the Student Union's Building (SUB) Planner Erin Van Horn.
The purpose of this project was to assist our client in renovating the top floor of the SUB. For the purpose of our goal we focused on the food court.
We cultivated a welcoming, accessible, and functional SUB cafeteria and main floor that promotes student belonging for all patrons through modular and biophilic design and U-Well compliance.
IDENTITFIED PROBLEM:
outdated and impractical
Revitalize a space within SUB that prioritIzes function and flow. Our aim is to cater to students needs and create a safe and comfortable space where all students and visitors feel a sense of belonging.
GUIDING DESIGN QUESTION
"how might we cultivate a welcoming, accessible, and functional SUB (cafeteria/main floor) that promotes student belonging for all patrons through modular and biophilic design?”
4 MAIN DESIGN OBJECTIVES:
welcoming
accessible
functional
student belonging
HOW DID WE ACHIEVE THIS:
multi-use space
The reason we chose to look at SUB as a multi use space was to cater to the needs of the diverse group of people who visit the building. Students visit SUB to eat, study, or hangout with friends. We wanted to keep all this in mind when designing the space to ensure we cater to all these needs.
The reason we chose to look at SUB as a multi use space was to cater to the needs of the diverse group of people who visit the building. Students visit SUB to eat, study, or hangout with friends. We wanted to keep all this in mind when designing the space to ensure we cater to all these needs.
modular furniture
Our group decided to look into modular furniture because of its adaptability. SUB is a large space that houses many visitors per day each with individual needs and wants. We want to cater to as many of these visitors as possible and found modular furniture to be the best way to do so. Modular furniture is a great way to personalize a space and create a comfortable environment based on peoples activities. Modular furniture also saves money and space due to its versatility. Overall we believe modular furniture to be a great way to cater to a large variety of needs and ensures the comfortability of all visitors.
biophilic design
Biophilia is an important aspect of our design and informed many of our design decisions. Including nature or biomimicry within a space creates a relaxing and low stress environment. It has been proven that incorporating nature into a space creates a happier and healthier environment for visitors and increases productivity. Not only are these elements visually
appealing but due to the increased job performance, improved moods and reduced stress by users of the space it overall makes the space a more pleasing and positive environment for users.
appealing but due to the increased job performance, improved moods and reduced stress by users of the space it overall makes the space a more pleasing and positive environment for users.
