Claudia Parsons Active Campus, Loughborough University

Claudia Parsons Active Campus

Loughborough University

Ask anyone who has recently graduated from Loughborough University about Claudia Parsons and they will smile “It’s the bees knees,” was the last bit of feedback recently received at Kings Cross station in a chance conversation.

Subject of a Sport England best practise case study, Colour designed Britain’s first ‘active campus’ –a £43m residential accommodation for 617 students and an elite athletes’ hotel with altitude rooms.

“It gets into your subconscious to be active.

We don’t know why, but we love it !”

To test what would and wouldn’t work, and how students engage with activity in their own lifestyles, a highly agile programme of student engagements was undertaken in collaboration with Loughborough Sport, the Students’ Union, David Morley Architects and Sport England. Groups of students were consulted and represented both the active and the less active communities, with the intention that one of the ways that success could be measured would be through behaviour change with the less active.

The end result has been a great success, the first halls of residence to fill at the university every year and a suite and spaces designed for students to meet, be active, relax and decompress. Over time the orchard in the ‘passive’ courtyard will mature, adding to the campus ‘food route’.

View the Sport England case study

Internationally recognised as an institution for sporting excellence and winning more gold medals than most countries at major events, Loughborough University recognised that a broader offer was required for students and that their campus, although appearing active was not necessarily inclusive. The project was driven by student experience, an ‘active landscape’ offering opportunities for activity between the places where people go to for sport.

The landscape design was developed with the basic premise that all built elements would provide a secondary function that could be used for exercise or activity. ‘Nudges’ were designed in to encourage users to be active and social meeting spaces were created of both passive and active character. Design of landscape elements were developed with an international athletics coach so as to maximise the training potential of the everyday environment.

LOCATION Loughborough

CLIENT Loughborough University

TEAM Sport England David Morley Architects Faithful & Gould project management and quantity surveyors Curtins engineers Church Lukas Architects BWB engineers

STATUS Occupied and ‘the bees knees’

LOCATION Loughborough CLIENT Loughborough University TEAM Sport England David Morley Architects Faithful & Gould project management and quantity surveyors Curtins engineers Church Lukas Architects BWB engineers STATUS Occupied and ‘the bees knees’