Re-Design Triple Rooms

at Western
Odalys Lopez
South Tower Kappa Floor 4- March 1, 2016

ACTIVE LIVES CHANGING LIVES

Reality vs Expectations
As a first year student, I pictured a dorm with christmas lights, a hippie tapestry, similar color
bed sets with the other roommate, tons of decorative pillows, posters, pictures all over the
walls, a fluy rug, and a nice seating area. All the Youtube videos, Bed Bath and Beyond
catalogs, and Target Tv commercials made up this conclusion of this perfectly themed
comfy double dorm that I have been waiting for since freshman year of high school. My
ultimate goal was to make the room feel as homey and inviting as possible, so when I would
have the door propped up, other students could peek in and see how awesome it would
look and build up some "I wish I would have done that" vibes. All the tips about "contact
your roommate in the summer to pre-plan the dorm" is some baloney, or at least it didn't
happen with my roommates and I. I did my research in August when I found out what dorm I
was assigned to since I applied for housing about a month late and I was stoked. "Woah, a
triple room, has more space than a double" I thought as I looked through a virtual tour of a
triple room. But in reality, picture three girls living in Harry Potter's under stair storage room
in the first movie.Suocating, tight, and prison like feel is how it feels living in Kappa #404.
With very limited space with place it is not as spacious as it should be for a triple room at
Western Washington University. I do appreciate the tall ceilings, even though it doesn't allow
a lot of sunlight in the room, but the way the desks, beds, and wardrobes are positioned, it is
hard to study, have social gatherings, and to live together.

Dorm Lifestyle
As you may already know or heard, it is highly recommend to live on campus the first year of
college. According to College Board, 90% of first-year students live in college housing and
27% of all undergraduates live in college housing.

Some housing options include, special housing for disabled students, wellness housing
(alcohol/drug/smoke-free), coed, and apartments for married and single students. There is
no Greek Life at Western Washington University. This medium sized school located in a
suburban setting can ideally fit your standards for housing.

Here at Western, residential buildings throughout campus have a mix between single,
doubles, and triples or stick to an traditional apartment style of a complex/suite. This allows

ACTIVE LIVES CHANGING LIVES

a student to choose to have their own room, share a room with one or two people, or share
a room with someone but share the entire place with six other people.

From the options on living at North Campus, The Ridgeway, and South Campus, it can be
overwhelming to choose a living option without knowing what they all oer. For example,
Edens residential building is strictly for the Honor Students Program, The Ridgeway is
commonly known as the party site, Fairhaven has a daycare for residents that has kids, and
Birnam Woods is about a twenty minute walk to campus.

Western provides safe and all inclusive housing options so a student doesn't have to settle
for an old unfit room. A good education is also where a student lives in. A place where you
can comfortably sleep and socialize at the same time while studying to ace that
Environmental Studies exam.

But, when a student is randomly selected to live in triple, things can kind of get gloomy. For
an instance, having to constantly push the closet door open when picking out an outfit
because it wont swing all the way open due to the other roommates door being used or
propped open. Another example of tight space in a triple is when two desks are placed back
to back, it is dicult to move in your designated area and comfortably lounge around your
desk area.

Re-Design
Kappa was established in 1963, therefore having bad design in triples. In 1967, Nash was
established and made a few changes to triple rooms, but still not enough. Seen below, (left

to right) a floor plan of Kappa #404 and Nash #511.

A way to make more room could be re-designing the furnishings which are beds, desks, and
wardrobes. First, we can adjust the thick chunky wardrobes by changing to built in units or
making thinner closets that are from ceiling to floor to provide more organizational space.

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Closet doors can also be replaced with mirrored doors to provide the allusion of a bigger
room and to also provide full body mirrors to residents.

If desks were re-designed, they could be made out of a dierent material such as steel
instead of traditional wood that is too bulky. Steel desks, provide a sleek, modern, and
dierent outlook. Less is more.

Beds can be re-designed by having built in storage around the perimeter of the bed. This
would allow to cut out wardrobe space and money expenses because the resident could put
their clothes and shoes there instead.

Furnishings that are made of durable sleek material presents the room with more studious
modern feel. Residents will approach learning in a dierent way with the new feel of the
room. I, as a resident, need to have a clean spacious area to get any work done. I would
rather spend fifteen minutes organizing my desk area, making my bed, hanging up my
clothes etc. instead of working in a cluttered dirty environment.

Cost
There are currently eight triple rooms in Kappa, to get beds with built in storage, its roughly
$400 for an twin XL bed but as low as $290. Assuming limited budgets, it would be a total of
$6,960 for every resident in a triple to receive a $290 bed without including taxes but with
free shipping and handling. That is less an one students tuition cost at WWU.

Sleek desks can be sold from the lowest as $120 and above, so the total cost of new desks
would be around $2,880 for all triple residents, which is equivalent to one students meal
plan. All of these products would be bought in two dozens so there would defiantly be
discounts and free shipping for a big buy that would also reduce the overall cost.

Built in closets would involve construction, engineering, new floor plans, and expansion of
rooms. This is still a great option if the university wants to put more time and eort into, but
more money that might be needed else wear. It would be a great detail if the university
decides to make a new residential buildings in the future, this would be an awesome feature
to have in rooms.

To A New Future

A simple way to get work done, is having a good environment. A dorm is a home away from home. Western
Washington University lacks in supporting spacious triple rooms for three students to study without
unnecessary distractions such as constantly bumping into your roommate while studying at your desk. I
propose to a new future of triple rooms in Kappa that can allow students can feel comfort like their home and
also a space to be productive as an oce area. Easy changes of furnishings cost less than a students tuition
or meal plan. I picture a triple room with space that each resident can claim as their own area.

ACTIVE LIVES CHANGING LIVES

ACTIVE LIVES CHANGING LIVES