The college common area is a central element of student life. Dining hall, meeting space, library and living room- it performs many functions for the students it serves. But how well it performs depends on the proper design. A central product or service area surrounded by the following four seating zones, each designed to clearly communicate its intended function, optimizes the common area space allowing students to choose the type of interaction they want.

1. Collaborative
With the popularity of group learning in modern education, creating an environment for collaboration is imperative to an effective design. A collaborative zone should have tables that seat six. High top tables with stools work well for groups, allowing for standing collaboration and easy movement around the table. Direct overhead light is ideal for accommodating group work.

2. Quiet Study
For the course work that needs to be done alone. Booths with high walls create a space of personal privacy, while still allowing students to feel like a part of the community. Here, the student is able to achieve the focus required to do tasks that he can’t easily do in the group seating areas. Softer lighting is usually appropriate.

3. Dining
With the amount of work conducted over a meal or cup of coffee, students need a space to eat and engage with their peers. This means durable tables that are easy to clean, large enough for trays and easily rearranged to accommodate groups of various sizes. ‘Loungey-type’ booths communicate a message of comfort, which encourages students to stay a bit longer and interact with each other.

4. Lounge
Soft seating in small groups, coffee tables, bar-height surfaces offering casual standing engagement, medium-level light and available sightlines to televisions around the perimeter. The lounge seating zone is an area for open, informal dialog where students can put their feet up. The message here is “let’s talk.”

Separating the everyday uses of the college common area into these four zones allows it to perform better, creating dialog between students seeking similar experiences and improving their ability to interact.