Giulia Costa
Giulia is a passionate interior designer, who designs spaces around accommodation for others. Creating a space that is functional while also keeping on the theme to each design is key to how she goes about completing projects. For her thesis project, Giulia has created a Student Wellness Centre for post-secondary students. This space is meant to help and guide students who experience anxiety whether that be in school or their personal life and help them become the best version of themselves.
Project Overview
The Humber Student Wellness Centre is located at 3120 Lake Shore Blvd West. This wellness centre is in a prime area as it is located on Humber Colleges' Lakeshore campus which makes it very accessible for students to visit. This space will allow students to use various facilities offered at the centre such as tutoring, therapy, meditation, and gym classes, along with many others. It is a calming and safe environment where students will not have to fear of being judged and get all the extra help they need or want. In addition, connecting with peers and other staff members is encouraged as we welcome anyone to join our community.
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Conceptual Approach
Concept/Design Process
The concept that was developed for this project was the exploration of pathways. This was discovered through words, diagrams and drawings and related to Francis Ching's Architecture: Form, Space, & Order - Configuration of the Path. Our paths as not only students but as a living being within itself often has a lot of inflicting events that can change the course of what we initially expected.
Paths are not always linear, but rather have a lot of twists and turns. When a student is in post-secondary school they are often conflicted by a lot of difficult choices that can be brought to their attention. This often leads to a very stressful situation leaving the individual with a tough decision of what their next path will be. The concept of pathways will be discovered in the Humber Student Wellness Centre throughout foundational design elements, guiding the user to have a calming experience as they travel through one space to the next.
Site Plan/Floor Plan(s)
Located at 3120 Lakeshore Blvd W, the Student Wellness Centre encompasses 16,602 sq ft. The floor plan focuses on key spaces where students could go to enjoy, relax and unwind or have a non - judgemental place where they could go to receive extra help and guidance whether that be for there schooling or personal life.
I would consider the main spaces of this wellness centre to be the private pods where students could have their own personal space to either relax or do homework with no interruptions, the lounge which can be used either on your own or if you wanted to meet up with friends or even have a chat with a staff member, the classrooms which each have their own design where teachers will help the students with different approaches to their problems that is not typically discussed in the usual classroom setting. Then there is the gym, meditation and sensory room which is a good space for students to go to relieve their stress and finally the highlight of the building is the circular indoor garden and seating arrangement. It is a calming element that is inspired from the outdoors but bringing it inside allows for students to get part of the same effects.
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Lounge - Longitudinal Section
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Reception - Cross Section
Sections/Elevations
This longitudinal section of the lounge displays the uses of the various pieces of furniture. Those include a custom circular booth with a table for additional seating in the back, along with wooden stools and wickered lounge chairs.
In the section, you can also see some greenery, a custom curved bookshelf, along with an inspirational quote wall that is made with wooden planks which will help the room with acoustics and white acrylic letters for the wording. This cross-section displays the various other materials and furniture pieces used in the reception area. Those include wooden ceiling and wall planks, and a quartz and wooden accessible reception desk. There is also branding signage on the wooden wall planks made with white acrylic letters as well.
3D Views
The three 3D rendering that are displayed consists of the lounge, the cafe, and the indoor garden area. Through these renders, you are able to have a better visualization of how these spaces came to fruition the consistency of the colour palette, the use of materials, and various pieces of furniture.
Video
The Humber Student Wellness Centre is a space where post-secondary students can come to visit to receive guidance and assistance with experienced anxiety. This was achieved by providing them with an alternative space to learn and collaborate with others while incorporating stress-relieving spaces and a nature-inspired colour palette. Whether the anxiety is personal or school related, we are here to help you become the best version of yourself, through the support of the Humber community.
