Improving campus facilities for student well-being

Student mental health concerns are on the rise, and college leaders are addressing them in every area of campus life. Some are turning their attention to campus facilities and the role space, light, sound and décor can play in student learning and healthy living. Many college campuses have established wellness rooms, sensory spaces or relaxation zones to promote healthy habits and academic success for learners. 

The focus on environmental wellness is also an inclusive effort, supporting students who struggle with sensory issues, including those with learning or developmental disabilities, and promotes universal design thinking.

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, host Ashley Mowreader speaks with architecture and design experts Renae Mantooth and Brad Robichaux, from design firm HKS, to discuss the science behind environmental wellness and how colleges are adapting to serve their students.

Later, hear from Lauren Kehoe, then–accessibility and accommodations librarian at New York University, about how NYU turned a spare room in the library into a safe study space for neurodiverse students.

An edited version of the podcast appears below.

Listen to past episodes of Voices of Student Success here.

Inside Higher Ed: Where did the concept of sensory rooms come from? What are wellness facilities?

Robichaux: I think first and foremost it’s the increased student demand and expectations to have comprehensive wellness services located on campus. I think over the years, we’ve definitely seen rising awareness of mental health issues amongst college students, which has led universities to invest in spaces that support their mental well-being: counseling centers, quiet rooms, spaces for meditation. These aren’t necessarily new things in the construct of interior design, but I think as they relate to campuses, that is definitely a new integration in academic buildings.

Mantooth: I also think there’s greater awareness—not just for mental health and the destigmatization of that, but also in terms of different sensory needs. So much of this [work] has been around, not just designing for spaces like that, but even understanding what that means. I think a lot of this is really just being driven by our collective understanding that people do have different needs when it comes to the environment and for self-regulation and emotional regulation and all of that.

Inside Higher Ed: What is the science behind wellness facilities? How can these spaces better student mental health or their academic focus?

Mantooth: It really all begins with understanding this general argument that the built environment does matter. It does make a difference on our experiences. It does make a difference in terms of how we behave in space or how we feel in space.

From that environmental psychology lens, there are strategies and plenty of studies out there that that talk about how access to green space, for example, or access to nature, the amount of daylight, actually does influence cognitive functioning or our general mental health.

Whether it be about exposure to those spaces, whether it be about how often you’re in those environments and even how satisfied you are with your environment, it can all make a difference in in terms of mental health.

We recently published a study out of a student housing project that was asking students about their environmental satisfaction. But we also had a self-report study on a validated measure of depression and life satisfaction, and what we found was that there is this relationship between environmental satisfaction along with mental health. The idea here is that the more that we can influence and let students be more satisfied with their environments, then therefore their mental health outcomes can also be influenced.

Inside Higher Ed: On the practical level, what does it mean when we’re talking about the physical space of a wellness center or a meditation room or a sensory room? What are some of those common features that we’re seeing?

Robichaux: I love that architects and interior designers, in general, are implementing more empathy into their design. And I think a lot of this is stemming from a lot of the virtual, remote learning and co-working that we experienced during the pandemic.

Empathy in architecture shouldn’t be surprising, that we’re implementing that, but I love that we have a heightened awareness to that 1724235446.

For wellness centers, it’s just a comprehensive facility that offers a range of services, including fitness classes or counseling or even nutrition advice or even health screenings. UC Berkeley included—their new Tang Center is a great example of that, where it provides a really comprehensive facility for those things.

Now, meditation, mindfulness rooms, nap pods, relaxation rooms—those could coexist in a variety of different ways. I think on college campuses, it’s all about how to control those spaces and get the most out of their investment to include some of these. But really they’re just dedicated spaces for exactly that: meditation, relaxation and mindfulness practices. Areas equipped with nap pods and comfortable seating where students can take short rests [are] also important.

As we’re designing a lot of these spaces, furniture, obviously, is a major component of this, because a chair is a chair is a chair, but it’s also not. Because then you think in the context of posture types and how people interact with furniture, whether it’s soft seating or hard plastic or wood[en] chair. Are you perched? Are you standing? Are you lounged? And what kind of environment that [can] coexist with is really important.

I don’t want to just focus too much on just like the meditation and mindfulness [of] physical, enclosed space, but I think there’s definitely a heightened awareness to how furniture interacts with space and how people interact generally with furniture.

Mantooth: I would tack on to that, too—we did some research with N.C. State [North Carolina State University] a couple of years ago in the height of the pandemic. I was interviewing students about their informal or their gathering spaces, all these environments that are outside of classrooms but obviously very core to their work and their student life.

Because it was the pandemic, the university had set up a lot of these, like what I would call large wedding tents outside where students could gather in a safe way, given the conditions. But on one of the campuses where they set this up, they actually put a piano out there, and one of the students talked about how this became his favorite spot on campus. In between classes, he’d stop and he’d play the piano, and people would gather, and he was so hopeful that the university wouldn’t take it away once the pandemic was over.

I think that there’s, not just what Brad was talking about of these really intentional design strategies around furniture and how that interaction between people and what that can afford, but it can also be really quick, “do now” type of things like a wedding tent, that just creates a new environment, but also gives students that outlet or that way to connect with each other.

It’s not always this internal-facing thing, and, “What do I need for my own privacy?” But also, “How am I connecting with others in this obviously very active and enjoyable campus?”

Robichaux: And I love that you mentioned the music aspect of that, because when we talk about mental health and well-being, we tend to drift towards thinking about those quiet rooms and those spaces that are dedicated to meditation and such. But I think it’s just as important to understand that students spend the majority of their time listening to music, socializing with friends, watching TV or movies, and so integrating spaces that could potentially just be dedicated to listening to music, right?

Provide a record player in a space where students can socialize. They could bring their own records, they can plug in their own phone and broadcast some music, but it’s a space where students can socialize. But again, it’s not just where you can take a nap or just hide away. But just providing those, what I like to call social interventions. Some of these student housing projects, the rooms are getting smaller and smaller, so it’s important to increase that mental health aspect of just general socialization.

Inside Higher Ed: I love that idea that de-stressing or taking care of yourself doesn’t have to be in isolation. It doesn’t have to be the nap pod or the meditation room. It can be singing karaoke with your friends and just having a space to enjoy the outdoors in a wedding tent or something like that.

There’s a spectrum of investment and wellness facilities in rooms. It could be as easy as a pop-up tent. It could be completely redesigning the library. Where are you all seeing the trend when it comes to the level of investment institutions are taking. Is it a complete redesign? Is it reusing old spaces? Is it everything in between?

Mantooth: What I see is, every single project, no matter the typology on the campus, there is some aspect of mental health and mental wellness. I think that administrators are very aware of the mental health challenges that students are facing, and so every project—maybe it’s a classroom building, maybe it’s a student center, maybe it’s a student housing project—all of them will have some conversation around, [where] are there are these smaller, informal spaces where students can either have that sense of respite or relief or obviously social connection?

But I think it’s not just at the building level. It’s also thinking about the overall landscape. We’re having a conversation right now in a student housing project about a hammock garden, for example, and being able to relax in the outdoors, but still being surrounded by your peers. Again, not having to resort to this idea of isolation, but being able to rest and have those opportunities for respite, but still in that you know that greater community that they’re within.

Robichaux: I think universities also are looking towards a holistic education approach. Adopting this holistic approach to education includes more than just physical fitness. So you’re almost creating this ecosystem, if you will, that ties back into existing facilities, such as fitness recreation facilities that exist across every campus, but coordinating that with health services and dining services, I think would really start to create this comprehensive wellness ecosystem, if you will, that are all working in tandem with each other.

Inside Higher Ed: There’s the saying “if you build it, they will come,” but that’s not always the case. What are the design considerations when it comes to making sure that these spaces are accessible and actually utilized by students?

Mantooth: This is, like, my favorite topic. It is about accessibility, and in my opinion, it’s also about convenience.

When you’re a college student, you’re learning how to be independent, you’re learning how to live on your own, but obviously still within a structure. I think that level of convenience is so important. I know a lot of universities are trying to bring more formal counselors and mental health services to where students already are. We’ve given the example of one of our housing projects in California, how they actually have a basic needs suite within the student housing project so they can literally have a counseling visit right in their student housing facility. But also, I know of other universities that are bringing counselors into the colleges, so it’s co-located where students already are in terms of their actual coursework.

But there’s a huge virtual component here, too. Lots of students do engage with their counselors and their formal mental health services through telehealth. What does that mean whenever you’re sharing a dorm room? Where do you go for a private mental health call, or telehealth call like that?

One strategy that we’re using a lot in our housing projects is thinking about these shared private spaces that are outside of dorm rooms that students can go into to be able to, maybe it’s a phone call with their mom, or maybe it is this telehealth visit. But thinking about shared private spaces as well. In terms of just overall access, it’s about making things convenient, bringing those things where students already are and where they already have to be.

And then there’s also the belonging and the otherness element of it as well. Do students feel like they see themselves in their built environment? Do they feel like they’re represented within their spaces? And whenever they do feel that, then we can see that greater access is actually there, too, where they’re going to be much more likely to access these services and feel comfortable and feel like they’re really part of that community, rather than an outsider that’s just visiting. So much in what we do and our design is tied to also making sure that students do feel represented and see themselves within their spaces.

Robichaux: We already talked about … how the pandemic affected a variety of different learning methodologies and how people receive curriculum. But we already know that students are fundamentally different than they were four years ago.

When attending classes from home, they were able to manipulate their physical environments to fit their immediate needs. And now that students are back on campus, they’re expecting more from their learning environments. I think this diverse space enables choice, and I think the success of these space typologies are heavily tied to, like we said, flexible furniture and mobile technologies.

But I really think students are really looking for a more experiential aspect of the college campus. It’s becoming less of a destination, like, “I go to school, I go to work,” and it’s more of an experience, like, “I want to experience this course. I want to experience a college campus,” rather than just experiencing a destination, like a physical building.

So I think universities are implementing a lot of these different program modalities to create that experiential aspect of it. I mention this a lot, but there’s a Peanuts cartoon where they’re sitting in a classroom and another student turns to Charlie Brown, and she says, “Try not to enjoy it. It’s supposed to be educational.” And I think that was the mindset of a lot of campuses, was you were just there to receive curriculum. But that is completely changing, and I think implementing those more experiential aspects on campus is creating a more, like I said, a holistic educational experience, rather than just sitting and taking notes and doing exams and receiving it.

Inside Higher Ed: Where do you see the conversation going as we’re talking about campus design and infrastructure to support student health and wellness?

Mantooth: I think it’s about access to those resources. We’ve talked a lot about the formal mental health services, but especially if we’re talking about some of the state colleges or even community colleges that are trying to also offer affordable housing to their students and [serving] them there, I think it’s really about understanding, what are those basic needs, and how do those basic needs differ across student bodies?

I don’t know if that fully answers your question, but I do think it has a lot to do with being able to be really in touch with what that current student needs now. What is the university doing to provide those wraparound services or those holistic resources to them?

Robichaux: I think there’s a real cultural sensitivity to ensure that these wellness programs and spaces are culturally sensitive and inclusive while respecting the broad range of backgrounds and practices of the student population.

I think understanding the demographic of the population will start to reveal how students interact with health-care services, and maybe some demographic may have access or be more inclined to use mental health services versus another. I think [college leaders] are really starting to dig into offering programming and resources that address specific wellness needs of different cultural groups.

I think it’s a fascinating topic. I’m loving that people are having more conversations around mental health on college campuses. We all know stress and anxiety is just one component of a college student’s life, so I think just having convenience and accessibility to these services is making a huge impact on college campuses.

Inside Higher Ed: Where did this conversation start on campus? Who asked for the space? Why is it on campus?

Kehoe: It started at a universitywide meeting with a variety of stakeholders who are invested in improving the accessibility and experience for our disabled student community across the campuses.

And it was, I think, my second month of work about six years ago, and I had just joined this committee. It was called the disability, inclusion, accessibility provisional working group.

I had just joined this meeting, and I had my name tag in front with “library” [on it], and they were like, “We need to build a sensory space for students. We’ve been asked for this space for a long time.”

It was right around finals time, which has an acute heightened sense of needing comforting spaces and silent spaces and areas where students can go in and focus.

The meeting took place in the library, I was from the library, and they were like, “Can the library build a space like this?” And I was like, “Well, I just started at the university, but this sounds like a great idea. We would be responding to a student need and request, and that’s what we love to do. So let me work on this and come back to you.” And then a couple of years later, the funding became available, and we were able to make it happen with the support of members of that committee.

At NYU, like many academic universities or colleges, the library is the heart of the campus. And then in New York City, in a metropolitan region where the campus is in the middle of the city, space is somewhat at a premium, and unique spaces like this even more at a premium.

The library at NYU has prioritized being able to provide these kinds of spaces that meet student needs, that respond to student requests. And you know, the experience of having it in the library, there’s the perception that libraries are quiet, more sensory-friendly areas, perhaps with sound considerations, smell considerations, lighting. I know there’s a big movement in libraries to have really well-lit spaces with natural lighting.

I think there’s a lot of what libraries do to consider this already. Some do it great. Some aren’t always able to do it great. But then more specifically, at NYU, coming in from a very overwhelming city with traffic and subways and people and smells and sounds, and then in an urban campus where there’s 60,000 students and there’s just a lot of people, it can be an overwhelming experience. Then the building itself, coming in, it’s 14 floors, there’s different things to look at. There’s been different stages of renovation, and so we really wanted to just prioritize the experience for neurodivergent students who would be coming through the building and respond to that. And so we’ve [moved] beyond the sensory space now to [bring] that into our other designs.

Inside Higher Ed: Within the sensory space, what are some of the features?

Kehoe: We had a lot of design considerations. I had attended quite a few conferences and learned from other more public universities, actually, that had been doing this, and took a look at some of the way spaces were designed. But we really considered first and foremost was paint color and carpeting, and we found a neutral blue color.

For the sound-dampening purposes and warmth of the space, we put in carpeting. And then we chose other design features and furniture features that would further enhance somewhat customizable sensory experience.

Of course, there’s only so many factors one can control in a space that you’re retrofitting to a need, but we worked with the electricians to make the overhead lighting dimmable, so we completely changed the system in the room to make it low-level lighting. We got additional furniture that had really high sides and insulated. We talked a lot about how we were going to situate the chairs, whether they face the door, or away from the door, or to the wall, with the wall at your back.

We got a lot of student feedback as we were thinking through these things to make design decisions, and then we’d gotten a lot of feedback, too, about the experience of New York City, NYU, and then really wanting it to feel cozy and comforting.

We worked with fabrics and warm wood tones and so those, like, design decisions and bringing it all together with the colors and the lighting and the fabric, because textures are really important. And then we added sound-dampening panels, because we wanted to make sure it is a group space. There’s more than one person [in the room] at a time. Really trying to add features that allow for the low-sensory experience.

The last thing I want to say, too, about that is that in the shared space, there’s a lot of chairs with high backs, ottomans, wood features. Electricity was really important so people can bring their own devices. But we also have what’s called a Framery pod—it’s the name of the company that makes it.

It’s essentially a modular office space. They have units that are individual pods that look like telephone booths, but we had a group one. It has a door on it. It’s a glass door, and it also has its own lighting and ventilation system inside, which acts as a white-noise machine. We have that inside the sensory space, too. So if you need even more sensory deprivation, or if you need a stimming space … we have that space as well that’s set off in the group space.

Inside Higher Ed: That’s something I’m learning, is that it’s not necessarily about the things you add to a space. I was picturing lava lamps and fidget toys and things like that, but it’s even more so just how the room itself is constructed, like you mentioned, nice blue color and carpet and things that feel welcoming.

Kehoe: I bought lots of fidgets, and I have lots of things that I can put in the space. Looking at what other places have done, we had an academic audience in mind. Of course, we wanted a space that would allow students to decompress and have a sensory-free area. But we were in the library, and we were trying to serve the study nature of students. I’m sure they’ll use it for other reasons, just to go in and have some quiet time. But we moved away from those lamps and those kinds of features, to have the lighting and the other kind of sensory-related items that might be in traditional sensory rooms. But like I said, we did get items to add to the space.

Back to the sound and shared space: We definitely, in our user research, had a lot of [comments sharing], “My stimming might disrupt somebody else,” so how do we manage that? So some of the fidgets I’ve gotten are silent. Like, I have these sand-wave things that are really quiet. And then I have other kinds of pillows and things that allow for customization and stimming in different ways, but in quieter ways. We just tried to adapt some of—I don’t know, traditional, if there’s a traditional kind of approach the sensory rooms—but I did look at lava lamps. We just didn’t end up getting those.

Inside Higher Ed: There’s good in both, but I guess it depends on your purpose.

We’re seeing libraries move from just stacks of books and more of these interactive spaces for students to meet and gather or to take a break and have a sensory experience. What was this room before? Was this a remodel at NYU, and how is that sort of realigning with the new vision of libraries?

Kehoe: In the past it was an office space that had about six cubicle desks inside of it, but it was kind of at the back of the building, beyond user-facing space.

In conversations with the original people that brought the idea to the libraries and then the library’s facility team, [it was clear that] space is always at a premium, again, in an urban setting, even maybe more so than other kind of campuses that might have more space for growth. But this was the space that was available, and we really also wanted it to be in an accessible place like the first floor, and it was already closed off. There was a door, and there was a confined area where we could provide this special type of space in the library. So it didn’t displace any books or anything like that.

I will say, going forward, though, as we continue to do renovations and remodels—we had the sensory space, and then there was a delayed opening, because we then got the new president of NYU, Linda Mills, [who] actually [wanted] to redo the whole first floor. And so we took some of the design ideas, like the carpeting, the color, the furniture, the lighting, and we added those elements into the first floor so that it more seamlessly integrated in with the space, if that makes sense.

As we do more and more renovations, this idea of kind of the sensory experience of being in the library is going to really influence all the other areas. I am in conversation with colleagues about what that means for the book stacks and how stacks and books can provide sensory stimulation [and] sound absorption. There are these elements of the traditional library services influencing these newer service points; how they can be in conversation and utility together?

Inside Higher Ed: I love the idea that the sensory room is expanding, it’s trickling out in these smaller ways to the library, because we know that all students can benefit.

How have students engaged with the space?

Kehoe: We have this space, it’s a very small number of seats, it can hold 10 students and there’s about 200 students who are registered with the Moses Center, our student accessibility office on campus, who have been given access to the space as an accommodation. So it is swipe activated; you have to have to have an academic accommodation to get access to the defined sensory space.

With that being said, we understand more students need access to this kind of space, and that was a lot of feedback we got as we were doing user research with students, and when there was a big press release around this space, we got a lot of feedback saying everybody can benefit from this, and maybe there’s some exclusionary practices if you’re just allowing for a certain group of individuals to use it.

So that’s why we have now, anytime we are redoing a space, we’re bringing in these design considerations. That’s one way user feedback and student feedback has come to add to the validity of what we’re doing, and to show that there’s demand for more of these spaces.

We also have students who participated in really structured user feedback and gave us design input. I’ve gotten feedback about how to make the space more user-friendly. We added lighting, but it was very confusing to the students how the lights actually worked. You tap on the stand, and it’s like, low, medium and high settings, but they had no idea.

Back to the way we design the furniture, the seats are facing in different directions, so a student might not know that somebody’s sitting in a space, and they’ll go over and see. So we got some feedback about how to how to add some signage or details to help the space be more user-friendly.

Students use the space in a variety of ways. We’ve asked about time of day that they go in and features they really like or features that are missing. Students will sit in the chairs; some students have their favorite chair. A lot of students really gravitate towards that pod I mentioned before, just because they can be even more insulated and more supported. They’ve brought their own blankets, although I’ve provided weighted blankets. They really have adopted the space somewhat for their own continued use.

I’ve put pillows in the space and yoga mats, so they’ll sit on the floor and they’ll sit on the furniture, or they’ll move the furniture. That’s the idea we had behind it, was that students would make themselves comfortable in the space we would provide. We have an open floor area for them to sit, but sometimes they’re also just tucked away in the corner. And I’ve seen students both take naps in there, I’ve seen them be really productive and have multiple computers going. I think they’re using it in a variety of different ways.

I’ve been given feedback, too, that the space has really benefited them, and they’ve really needed it, and it provides a space for them to go and be able to decompress and get feel comfortable in the space.

Inside Higher Ed: If you had to give advice to an institution based on how the space is being used or what you learned, what would you share?

Kehoe: It’s a fun project to work on. I don’t know if everybody is like a space nerd like I am, but I just want to say it was really fun to be able to design something to learn about a need to really get out there and talk to people about it and to respond to that.

That’s probably the biggest thing I’d want people to know, is really get your community involved. Talk to the students that’ll be using this, and bring them in in the design process, if you can, and the decision-making. Don’t be afraid to kind of promote it and get out there and share that this information, that the space is available and really try and respond to student needs.

It doesn’t need to be its own autonomous, dedicated space. That’s the ideal: that you would have a sectioned-off space that really is insulated, because that sound piece is really important. Of course, you don’t want to disrupt the users of the space, but also you don’t want the users of the space to disrupt others. But it can be done, and it doesn’t also have to be done for a big space. It could just be a little space.

I talked about the design features, and we were really thoughtful about the paint color and the fabric choices and all that stuff. If there’s just acknowledgment in any organization that this kind of space is needed, and it could be just an individual office, or it could be a quiet nook in the building, and where you just add some of these features and support that, that it’s dedicated to that kind of use. I think that goes a long way. So that’s something I’ve learned.

We were lucky at NYU to have the buy-in of the community, and then from partnerships and conversations, the library was given information about a grant to apply for. It’s the New York State supporting students with disabilities grant that has been used to fund this project. There was funding there. But a lot of conversations I’m in is like, “Well, there isn’t the funding available,” or “it’s hard to justify this is when there’s other projects.” I like to say that it can be done without a big, grand budget.

Inside Higher Ed: If you had to make the case now saying, is it worth the investment, is this a top priority for institutions, where do you stand in that argument?

Kehoe: Yeah, 100 percent, it’s worth the investment. It’s worth the time it takes to understand what your community needs and to be an advocate. I even think back to, like, there’s 200 students who are using it, and I’ve heard from at least two dozen of those students how impactful it is. So even if it’s not all 60,000 NYU students who are sending me an email saying it’s so important, I know that it’s made an impact for those students who most need it, and that has been worth it entirely.