Five Considerations for Sixth Form Common Room Design

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What is a common room in school?

What is a common room in school?

A sixth form common room is an area within a school or college where students can relax, eat and study in a quiet area away from the main classrooms and busy corridors. A school common room should include soft seating, tables and chairs for eating and studying and an area to play board games.

Key benefits of a well-designed common room:

Key benefits of a well-designed common room:

The benefits of having a well designed common room for both students and the college include:

  1. Happy relaxed students who want to come to college.
  2. Prospective students will be attracted to a well designed school common room
  3. A well designed room can be used for evening events and award ceremonies.
Best practices for designing common rooms:

Best practices for designing common rooms:

Examples and best practices for designing common rooms, including the use of natural light, plants and acoustic solutions.

  • Natural light
    A modern common room should have a sufficient amount of windows letting in natural light and preferably overlooking a garden or green area. Try to select a room that is away from the parking area or busy road.
  • Plants
    Always include a range of indoor plants around your sixth form common room ideas to break up modular furniture areas and give a more natural feel.
  • Colours
    Choose grown up colours like darker greys, reds and blues and stay away from bright multicolour furniture and walls. The students will not want to use a room that looks like it was designed for small children.
  • Acoustics
    Load noises can be a nuisance in a modern common room. The best way to reduce noise is to introduce fabrics and soft surfaces into your student common room design. These can include high backed sofas that cacoon the user or acoustic fabric panels on the wall to soak up that unwanted sound.
Budget considerations:

Budget considerations:

Budget constraints can be a major issue when designing your school common area. The furniture needed will be used throughout the day and at least five days a week so needs to be of higher quality than the normal furniture you would buy for your home.

Instead of buying cheaper furniture try to complete the student common room design in several stages. The soft furniture will be the most expensive so plan to use only a small amount in stage one with other types of furniture like cafe-style tables and chairs to fill the space. Once more budget is available you can purchase further soft seating like sofas and chairs.

Places for studying & socialising

Places for studying & socialising

These common room furniture spaces need to function around sixth form life, giving the students independence and the freedom to make choices. Spaces for studying, socialising and recreational activities should be created with the following five considerations:

Seat colour:

Seat colour:

A great starting point is to see if the schools’ colours, used around the building or in the uniform would make for an inspirational palette. It is vital to ensure when considering a school common room design the colours are attractive but not too distracting. Darker shades are practical for upholstery, whilst lighter shades for common room decoration including walls and ceilings will add the illusion of a larger space.

Student comfort:

Student comfort:

The common room is the space where the students will be when not in a lesson so this space needs to be inviting and relaxing and allow them some independence. A good school common room design can be done by providing a mixture of soft seating, playful furniture and spaces for any extra circular activities.

Robustness of the breakout furniture:

Robustness of the breakout furniture:

The common room breakout area will be occupied throughout the day and will need to reflect robustness for everyday wear. Easy to clean upholstery, sturdy but lightweight tables and seating, and simple furnishings should be considered. It is important to keep the spaces clutter-free but maintain a vibrant and welcoming environment.

Practical school furniture:

Practical school furniture:

It is important to ensure there is a dedicated study space and breakout space. Certain common rooms also have an integrated canteen, so it is vital to provide dining tables and chairs.

Remember factors such as quieter areas for school study and more social open spaces for recreation. This can be done using moveable furnishings, study tables that double as dining tables and using plants and freestanding bookcases as dividers.

Aesthetically pleasing:

Aesthetically pleasing:

As well as practicality and function, the common room needs to look cool, modern and up to date. It is the initial grounding point for the students so it needs to reflect their generation.

Various new styles of common room furniture, soft seating and lighting can help do this. Also, consider using art created by the students for the school common area walls, and other personal touches to make the space aesthetically pleasing for the students.

Final thoughts:

Final thoughts:

Good student common room design is a fairly lengthy process and corners should not be cut. Spend time discussing common room furniture options with at least three suppliers to get an idea of budgets, layout suggestions and order times. Once you have this you can start asking the students and teacher what they think is needed.

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