The Nest Building

The Nest is a student-led project to construct a strawbale, sustainable building on Warwick's University campus. The building will be:

• a showpiece of sustainability with striking, modern design. A demonstration of Warwick’s commitment to a low-carbon future;

• an exploration of collaborative space through student-led design, demonstrating best practice that is forward-thinking and replicable;

• a template for future student-led initiatives, to involve and empower students in shaping their learning experience;

• a symbol to further Warwick’s reputation as a place that makes things happen. Supporting the development of ideas through collaborative working across boundaries.

The building itself will contain:

• a communal space for students to work individually or collaboratively;

• a teaching space (or spaces) that use novel form, furniture and technology to aid learning.

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A number of discussions and workshops have led to a fair consensus about the likely form of the building.

1. A modern and striking building. Even if ecological, natural materials like strawbales are used, it should avoid any sense of being a hippie self-build!

2. A primarily single storey building that is accessible, welcoming and attractive for students and visitors;

3. The building should act as a  3D textbook: the sustainable materials and methods used to construct it will be more apparent internally than externally. The concept could also be expanded to encourage awareness of how space influences behaviour;

4. A flexible and creative interior that can be kept tidy and presentable yet should not inhibit students from using it in a creative and interactive way;

5. As many surfaces as possible should be writable to facilitate communication and creativity;

6. A flexible combination or a large space and some smaller spaces, designed to maximise interaction between users of the building;

7. Internal spaces should have plenty of daylight, potentially being the first building on campus to require no artificial lighting whatsoever during the day;