The document summarizes the development of the Information Commons at the University of Sheffield. It describes the university's need for more high-quality study space to accommodate its large student population. It outlines the vision and design for the Information Commons, which provides 1,350 study spaces across 8,000 square meters with a variety of study environments. The Information Commons has been highly successful, with average daily occupancy of 700 students and foot traffic of 6,000 per day. It has received several awards for its architecture and sustainability.

1. The Information What?
Dr Christine Sexton
Director, Corporate Information and
Computing Services (CiCS)
University of Sheffield

2. The Information What?

3. The Information Commons

5. 24,000 students from 124 countries
5,500 postgraduate students
5,800 staff
Campus 1.6km long
Current capital programme £220m

11. Fourth largest city in England
Centre of England
Industrial heritage
Green city and close to open countryside

13. Professional Support Services
Registrar & Secretary
Information Services Division
Corporate Information The University
and Computing Library
Services (CiCS)
ISD is a virtual organisational unit

14. Drivers
Study Space – not enough
Poor quality
IT and print separate
No group areas
Student dissatisfaction
New learning methods
No room for expansion

15. The vision
A shared CiCS/Library
facility
The student learning
space of the future
An integrated learning
environment
A flagship building for
the 21st century

16. Building a business case
A £23m investment in the student learning
experience
Conventional method difficult - no income
stream
Impact of loss of future student recruitment
National Student Survey - the student
experience

17. The Brief
High quality architecture –
modern, striking, functional
Wide variety of study environments
No regimented spaces
Generous study space – 4.2m2
Desks have PCs - not IT workstations
24/7 operation
Energy efficient / sustainability
Good acoustic performance
Accessible

19. How I nearly got to Galway…

20. How I nearly got to Galway…

21. 1,350 study spaces
8,000m2 usable space
13 group study rooms
2 classrooms
24/7 opening
520 desktop PCs
60 internet kiosks
Wireless
100,000 textbooks
RFID robotic sorting

22. Project cost £23m including fitout
Start on site May 2005
Handed over 1730 on Thurs 5/4/07
Opened to students 1000 Tues 10/4/07
Easter weekend
Architects: RMJM

108. Staffing
IC staff 0900 to 2100
Concierge/security staff
2100 to 0900
Balance of library/IT
enquiries
IC Manager the only new
post - other staff from
redeployment
Staff from CiCS and Library
work together
Cross skilling
Students as staff

109. Equality and Diversity
Full wheelchair accessibility
24-hour opening
365-day opening inc major
festivals
A multi-faith prayer room
CCTV for safety and security
Fire evacuation lifts
Hearing loops
Height adjustable desks all floors
Left handed desks
Large text keyboards all floors
Supervised children allowed
Additional support manager

110. Sustainability
Sustainable materials
Motion sensors for all lighting
Grey water collection
Low energy Sunrays
Low energy PCs
Bubbledeck concrete
Northlights reduce solar gain

111. Usage
No big drop in occupancy
for other sites
Mean visit length to IC is
around 2 hours
Longest stay is 6 days!
Average footfall 6000
Average occupancy 700
Christmas Day – 95 at
1600
20% of visits are by
postgraduates
Frequently 500 overnight

112. The
Information
what?

113. Award Winning
RIBA Award
RIBA Yorkshire Building of
the Year
White Rose Gold Prize for
Architecture
Building of the Year –
Sheffield Design Awards
Two construction
innovation and
sustainability awards

114. Lessons learned
If you build it, they will come
Huge untapped demand
No matter what device
students are using – they
need somewhere to sit
Listen to them – be flexible
and respond
Think of any 24*7 facility like
an airport
Protect your fit out budget
Don’t lose touch with design
process
You can be a victim of your
own success

115. Thanks for listening
c.sexton@shef.ac.uk
http://cicsdir.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/cloggingchris