‘The Place’ is a stylish, purpose-built Nottingham new student accommodation scheme and a market first for developer and owner MRP. The 409-unit building seeks to address the supply and demand imbalance in the city for the incoming undergraduate population and was designed by Belfast-based architects Consarc, with all interior design, from room finishes to the scheme’s showstopping amenity spaces on the ground floor and 11th floor roof terrace, by Ekho Studio.

The new-build, 11-storey BREAAM ‘Excellent’ scheme sees the redevelopment of a brownfield site on the city’s Queen’s Road, directly adjacent to the railway station, and supports Nottingham City Council’s strategy of integrating students into the city centre in secure, purpose-built accommodation.

The major design challenge for the 100 sq m amenity area on the building’s ground floor was how to keep the series of spaces and functions it contained open and flowing. Where fire safety regulations necessitated break points, these are mostly met using glazed doors, maintaining through-views to ensure students feel invited to use all the spaces, from the reception through to the active zone (gym and games space); study zone; lounge and kitchen zone and the final series of private dining and event spaces to the rear of the plan. A 360° rooftop terrace and sky lounge offers spectacular panoramic views over the city.

The design team at Ekho Studio based their concept on three site-specific threads, helping ensure a unique style and sense of place for the Nottingham residences.

The first thread was ‘heritage’, which considers the city’s history and the strong, continued presence of industrial buildings and mills. The site itself, on the junction of Queen’s and London Roads, was historically famous for the production of iron, steel and lace.

The second thread was ‘process’, which examined the production of lace in particular, Nottingham’s most famous product. Lace made by machine has played an important role in the industrial life of the city since the 1760s, when net was first made on stocking frames. By the early 1900s, Nottingham was the lace capital of the world, with one third of its entire population earning their living in the trade. The designers were particularly inspired by the journey of the threads weaving together to form the lace pattern. A draft design for each pattern would then be translated into numbers on ‘punched sheets’ known as Jacquard cards and used to programme the lace machine.

Finally, the designers took inspiration from ‘locality’, not only in terms of the specific area of the city where the new building is located, but references to the Queens Road itself, which was constructed in 1843 and named in preparation for a forthcoming visit to Nottingham by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, en route to Belvoir Castle, 20 miles to the east. The castle dates to the 11th century and is one of the UK’s finest regency castles, providing the perfect inspiration for a luxury note to balance harder-edged industrial inspiration.

Design: Ekho Studio
Design Team: Rachel Withey, Ellie McCrum
Architect: Consarc
Contractor: McAleer & Rushe
Operator: Prestige Student Living
PM/QS: MRC
Joinery Supplier: Unique Contract Furnishings
Furniture Supplier: FMS Interiors
Electrician: Vallectric
Photography: Stevie Campbell