First impressions
Megan, you’re an architecture student so this should be a fun one. What’s been your first impression of Purdown View?
In my first year, I shared a flat with four others in Carroll Court (the building Purdown View replaced) so it’s interesting to compare the two. I really like the living room and kitchen layout here, especially the little window between the two. It makes it feel open and helps us be more sociable. You can talk to friends, but still do your own thing.
Did you know much about the Passivhaus aspect?
I did! The perforated windows are interesting because they help with sunlight—when it’s very bright it stops the sun from hitting my monitor, so that’s good.
And I also like the ventilation. Especially in cold weather, bathrooms tend to be quite steamy and can get a lot of mould. But so far, I haven’t had any problems because the ventilation works well. They designed the door a bit higher with a gap at the bottom, so the cold air comes in while the heat goes out through the ventilation.
Did that Passivhaus aspect influence your decision to live here?
Well the main reason was because I study architecture and my building is just next door, so it was more about convenience. But the Passivhaus thing, in a way, because we don’t need to use the heater a lot. We just close the window and it will get warm in about one or two hours, which is great considering the weather is quite cold now.
Life in the flat
Let’s talk about life in the flat, is it sociable or do people just do their own thing?
It’s kind of both. I live with eight other students, including my boyfriend, so it can feel a bit crowded sometimes, but there’s enough space so everyone socialises together.
Sometimes we have dinner together and because the sofa space is quite cosy, we tend to spend time in the living room. We have this board game that we just leave out on the table, so we can just play it whenever
Is there anything about the design that’s surprised you?
I like that the lights are motion sensitive and on a timer. So, when you open the door to the toilet, it just turns on. I think it’s good for students because sometimes we’re in a rush and might forget to turn off the lights.
And what would you look to improve with your flat?
Probably the location of the sockets. On my desk, I have one for my monitor and one for the computer, but because they’re not on the floor it feels a bit messy.
I also have a built-in shelf for books and all of my model stuff—a strip of lighting below that would be quite good. At the moment, if I sit on my desk, the lighting is behind me and it casts a shadow when I work.
Social spaces and building community
A big part of the brief was the social spaces, have you used those at all?
Most of the communal spaces are just below my unit and they host lots of sessions. I go to the belly dance class and do yoga once a week. The studio is quite nice, it’s quite big so you can do anything there. The Student Life team hosts events like drawing, painting or meetings, so we can say to friends ‘oh do you want to go to the meeting?’ and everyone sees each other.
I haven’t used the bookable kitchen yet, but it would be good if you have a few friends coming over and your flatmates don’t want strangers in the flat. I think it’s good to use the communal space for that.
Have you been to lots of those hosted events?
I’ve been to a knitting meeting once which was good because I’ve always wanted to try it. It was really helpful to learn the basic skills. Compared to my first year staying at Carroll Court, I’ve interacted way more within the school, there are way more activities going on here.
That’s great, and do the activities help you meet other people who live here?
When we meet other people staying in Purdown, we usually just talk about our studies. Most of them will say, ‘oh it is quite convenient to go to school’. Or it’s easy if they want to do late night studies because the main library’s open 24/7 and you can go home anytime, you don’t need to think about transportation and that kind of thing.
And what improvements would you make to the communal spaces?
I like that there’s a pool table while you wait for laundry, but that laundry space tends to get quite crowded. I think there should be more laundry areas because you can spend the whole day going down and it’s like, ‘still full, full, full’. So, then we have to walk around campus to find free space. Sometimes, you meet your flatmate at midnight or 1am heading to do laundry because that’s the only time when less students are using it.
Studying and life on campus
Obviously you study in the architecture school which is on campus, but do you feel like you’re part of the city here?
One thing about living on campus that’s good is you’re kind of in the middle of everything, not like in the centre. So, from campus I can go to the city centre in 15 minutes, but I can also go to Cribbs Causeway (shopping centre) in 15 minutes. Walking to get groceries is easy as well. In the city, you only have small shops, like Tesco Express. I guess it would be good to maybe have more social places like cafes to go to in your free time. At the moment I have to go to the city centre or maybe the Clifton area for that.
And what about studying, do you feel you can study well on campus?
I would usually choose the architecture block because they have better screens than in the communal spaces, and we tend to use the workshop a lot. And if we ever leave something behind, it’s just a five minute walk.
You’ve spoken about working in your flat, is there anything in terms of general provision that would help you study better?
I work well in an individual space. I wish there was more desk space and socket points in my room. In the common areas, I wish there were a few more cubicles which are a little bit more private, you’ve kind of got your own space.
Do the weekdays and the weekends feel different at Purdown View or on campus generally?
I think it’s quieter on the weekends. The students who live off campus don’t come over. And for the students living here, it’s kind of our day off, staying indoors or doing laundry and other house stuff.
So no wild parties on the weekends?
Not really. In the beginning, yes, during Fresher’s Week.
In terms of the outdoor spaces and the landscape, I know obviously the weather’s been really bad recently, but earlier on in the year, did people hang out outside much?
I came here in September and there were a lot of students who would gather at the tent area, just talking. Quite crowded sometimes. I think because it’s sheltered and there’s a seating area so it’s a good space to talk after class. Not now because the weather is quite cold, but hopefully there will be a lot of students gathering there soon.
Were you aware that a lot of the planting is edible across the grounds here? Have you managed to grab any berries?
Oh yeah I did know that. I picked the rosemary there. The architecture school has a group of students that garden and put out bird boxes and feeders, so, I learnt through them that we can pick things.
When you’re first moving in, do you think it would be helpful to have a little bit of information on things like the edible planting and heating systems?
Yeah, maybe more information about what we can do in the outside space. For example, picking flowers. For the heating, we do have a QR code which you can scan and a video explains how to use it. Yeah, it was quite straightforward. When we turned on the heating, depending on the room temperature it would adjust itself. So if I put it on high when it’s cold, when it reached the temperature it would go to low and it would stay at the low.
Looking Forward
One final thing, how would you describe Purdown View in three words?
Cosy, sociable, and I would say user-friendly. And I really do like the design of the big windows in common area and the rooms, they let a lot of daylight in.
