INTERIOR DESIGN PROJECT FOR NIDO STUDENT. Completed
A Designer at Heart is in charge of the design of communal areas for a student accommodation in Cork, Ireland.
The old protected structure has a high flood risk so there were a lot of technical limitations. To avoid potential risks, we designed the small power plan in the old structure so that no socket was left at a low level. Small power was a big requirement for our client, as they want students to be able to plug wherever they sit for flexibility, to make every space as study-friendly as possible. We managed it through a lot of coordination with the M&E consultant and the detailed design of a few bespoke pieces of furniture. The interior shows a good mix of amenities through the old and new structure. We also proposed a mix of different finishes introducing some sustainable and biophilic elements in line with the Nido brand.
The project is a refurbishment of an existing protected structure with a new addition. It includes 280 bedrooms that were already developed and 776.6 sqm of communal areas that included reception, café, study room, meeting room, brainstorming room, back of house (BOH), communal toilets, open study lounge, games & TV lounge, private dining room, and gym. The concept for it came from the local area itself. Cork’s architectural features and soft palette of colours helped us create a relaxing & refreshing style with neutral hues. We wanted to make sure that the design was consistent with the other Nido student accommodation in Cork, although the design evolved, being in a central position along the river and showcasing a café along the main façade. The end result has become a more vibrant scheme, with soft hues but with a playful hint as in the decorative and sustainable cork panels of the TV lounge or the terrazzo patterns in the PDR.
