Building Community: The New “Pod-Style” Student Housing at Western Michigan University Jim Nicolow and Jackson Kane
W
hen Western Michigan University (WMU) undertook the development of its first new residence hall in nearly 50 years, the leadership team saw it as an opportunity to differentiate itself from other institutions and to improve recruitment and retention of new students. They did this by designing a building that engages them in campus life and is a model in sustainability. The result was Western Heights, which opened in the fall of 2015. The innovative housing model combines the community-establishing aspects of traditional campus housing with the modern privacy expectations of incoming students. The design was the first of its type in Michigan and was intended to build multiple levels of community engagement and facilitate academic success. For first-year college students, a residence hall can be so much more than a dormitory. WMU challenged Lord Aeck Sargent (LAS) to rethink this space to create more than a place to live on campus. Why should it not feel like a new home they share with their new campus family? How can a residence hall actively foster campus community? Can the building serve as a testament to the campus’ environmental ethos? The Evolution of Campus Housing On-campus student housing has gradually evolved to provide increasingly more private spaces and facilities in response to changing student tastes and expectations, often at the expense of shared spaces that promote socialization. The traditional "dormitorystyle" housing model prevalent in the 1960s and 70s, with its communal bathroom facilities and shared lounge/living spaces, has largely been replaced by housing models where private spaces are emphasized
over community spaces, such as semi-suites (private bathrooms), suites (private bathrooms and private lounge/living space) and apartments (private bathrooms, private lounge/living space and kitchens). An unintended consequence of this increasing emphasis on private space has been a reduction in the opportunities to develop community fostered with the traditional model, especially for new students. For first-year students in particular, these more recent housing models can often discourage social interaction; the privacy and comfort of a suite can lead students to “cocoon” in their rooms. This tendency is compounded by the prevalence of social media and the ease of online communication and gaming, making it easier for students to maintain friendships from home instead of establishing new relationships on campus. There is a vast body of research to indicate that students who form meaningful social relationships on campus are more likely to succeed academically. The pod housing model facilitates these relationships in three critical ways: First, by giving every student a roommate so no student is ever completely isolated; second, by encouraging students to leave their rooms for spaces where they will engage more of their peers; and third, by deliberately building community at a small scale. The Responsive Design Solution In response to the stated programmatic desires for the project, LAS suggested the University consider pod housing as an alternative approach. The idea was vetted