The Middle Common Room was originally located in a much smaller room that did not work with how the students used the space. The College decided to relocate the common room to a larger space to better accommodate the student’s needs.
The new room felt oppressive with dark red walls, heavy curtains and a hard wood floor. Our task was to create a welcoming space that students could comfortably use during the day to socialise and study but would also be used for social events and parties.
” The MCR has been well received, and appears to be in constant use – thank you to all the team “
Accommodation Manager, Oxford College
The Middle Common Room is used by graduate students so we wanted to create a mature scheme to contrast the Junior Common Room. We created a colonial inspired scheme using a soft colour pallet of greens, neutrals and leathers to complements the dark wood panelling already in the room, whilst creating a much brighter feel to the room. The wood was soften with the addition of the upholstered bench seating in a faux leather, to ensure durability, this also creates additional seating when the main sofas are removed for parties.
It was important to create a welcoming,comfortable scheme that was be hard wearing and will withstand vigorous use during parties. All the fabrics on the fronts and seats of the upholstery are stain repellent and can be wiped clean.
The room needed to be multi-functional, a place to socialise and study during the day, but easily transformed into an area to hold student events and parties. The acoustics were tackled by carpeting the wooden floor, using carpet tiles that can easily be replaced individually if required and the furniture needed to be easily moved and stored elsewhere during events.
