Student Shapers Programme

Student Shapers explored furniture options, room layout, lighting, and storage in pilot rooms across Darwin. They shared clear preferences, including white walls with dark, contrasting doors and frames, adjustable desks sized for inclusivity, and a dislike of current beds due to lack of fitted shelving and stability. They preferred curtains over blinds and grey furniture over white, valuing personalisation through shelving units instead of drawers and the use of poster clip frames. Their feedback also included practical suggestions like adding wall shelves, door hooks, mirrors, and noticeboards. This input is now informing the standard design specification for future accommodation projects to ensure rooms better meet students’ needs for functionality, comfort, and personalisation.

Student Shapers explored how to improve our Library training offer.
Through interactive activities and small group discussions, students shared feedback on everything from session timing to content relevance. Their insights have directly shaped our approach to planning future training — including clearer signposting, better promotion across departments, and a more joined-up experience for taught postgraduates. This session has prompted the Library team to re-evaluate how training fits into the wider student journey, with a focus on building confidence and research skills at the right moments.  

Student Shapers co-created a design brief for a new student space.
Working from scratch, students identified key users of the Red Room and their competing needs. Their ideas shaped a multi-functional design brief that balances study, social, and wellbeing uses. This session was a great starting point, highlighting key ideas like flexible furniture, improved acoustics, ambient lighting, QR code booking links, and new uses such as board games. As the external catering partner comes on board, it will be important to run further sessions to gather more ideas and expand Student Shapers’ input, ensuring the space design truly reflects user needs.

Student Shapers reimagined the role and future of the University Library.
This workshop invited bold thinking: students mapped what the Library offers now and what it could become. Ideas spanned silent study zones, social space, wellbeing support, inclusive design, and future tech. Students saw Templeman as the “heart of the campus” and called for more clarity around zoning and furniture purpose. These ideas are informing long-term strategy discussions, and helped spark the wider “Library of the Future” vision.

Student Shapers mapped how students use—and don’t use—campus spaces.
Through post-it exercises and guided discussion, students highlighted favourite study and social spots, as well as gaps in comfort, visibility, and usefulness. They advocated for more adaptable furniture, fewer 'dead' spaces, and better temperature control. These findings directly informed the My Study Style campaign and helped shape Estates’ approach to flexible space design.  

Student Shapers shared honest reflections on what brought them to Kent.
This informal feedback activity captured motivations, expectations, and first impressions. Students valued the campus feel, international community, and subject-specific strengths — but also flagged a need for more consistent pre-arrival information. Their voices contributed to ongoing improvements in student communications, orientation, and the pre-arrival experience.  

Students reviewed the redesigned Study Spaces and Campus Map webpages. They highlghted the easy navigation, clear visuals, colour-coded zones, room images, and booking options as great features for finding study spaces and services.

Their feedback pointed to improvements such as adding icons for key services like printing, and increased promotion—especially to first-year students—through student creators, QR codes, and orientation events. Suggestions also included better integration with the My Kent Student App. These insights are guiding ongoing enhancements to make it easier for students to discover and use study spaces across campus.