Ahead of the opening of Imperial's new hall of residence in North Acton, One Victoria Road, the College have been consulting with students about the new space. After the recent open meeting and survey about One Victoria Road, Campus Services have produced a summary of the outcomes of your feedback so far.
If you have any questions about the project or the consultation process so far then you can email l.barrett@imperial.ac.uk .
We asked…. | You told us…. | Now what |
In the Common Room…. | ||
For your preferences on activities in the entertainment zone | You’d most prefer pool tables followed by table tennis tables, table football and then games consoles | We’ll work with the developer to build these preferences into the Common Room layout |
What kind of seating you’d prefer | You prefer mostly soft seating and booths | |
If you’d be happy with a combination of study pod areas with high-backed seating and bookable private study rooms | 81% of you told us you would | |
How many and what kind of TV screens you’d prefer | You’d prefer one large screen, preferably a retractable projector screen or a digital HD screen | |
In Reception…… | ||
As well as functioning as the main entrance, how else would you like to see the space used? | 80% of respondents would prefer this space to be primarily used as a meeting point, followed by as an additional lounge and lastly as an additional informal place to study with friends | We’ll work with the developer to build these preferences into the Reception layout |
What flooring combination would you prefer for a homely and welcoming feel? | The most popular combination was carpeted areas with some hard flooring with a timber style finish | |
Would you like a networked printer-copier station? | 93% voted yes! | |
Gym and Dance Studio | ||
Whether you’d prefer a smaller residents-only gym or a larger gym with an increased range of facilities but one that would have to be shared with the local community | 71% of survey takers said they’d prefer a smaller gym. | As part of this consultation process, a town-hall meeting was held on 4 June where students were able to provide feedback on the development in person. At this event, there was an overwhelming response in favour of a larger gym, as this would facilitate more music rehearsal and quiet study space, in addition to a larger dance studio.
We also need to balance the views expressed in both this survey and the town-hall meeting with the following challenges:
Taking into account all of the above, further discussions with the developer, Berkeley First can now take place to determine how the space will be used.
Students can rest assured that, whatever the final outcome:
- The gym will continue to be free - It will be based on the Ethos model with state-of-the-art equipment and associated services - Imperial students will be given priority of usage and any external memberships will be restricted, similar to the model at Ethos
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Those of you in favour of a larger gym were also asked if you would prefer to see a larger dance studio, increased music rehearsal space and more study space allocated to quiet study | 42% would also prefer to have a larger dance studio | If the final decision on the gym space means a relocation to a larger gym, we will be able to provide more of these spaces |
42% would also prefer to have a increased music rehearsal space | ||
60% would like more quiet study space | ||
For the Roof-top Terrace…. | ||
How would you prefer to use this space? | 82% of survey takers would prefer to have more benches or tables for group socializing compared to 18% who’d prefer more individual reclined seating such as hammocks | We can work with the developers to build this into the layout design |
If you had any other suggestions? | You suggested bbqs, a projector screen, a bar and a café | We’ll take these into consideration but we are unlikely to able to provide a bar or café on the roof-terrace due to planning restrictions |
For the Retail Unit…. | ||
What kind of retail unit would you prefer to have on the ground floor? | Of the choices we provided, the top three suggestions were: - mini supermarket (65%) - post office (62%) - chemist (60%) | As there is a mini super market in very close proximity to the residence (Tesco Express), we will explore the post office and chemist suggestions in the first instance. |