The University of Bristol is currently ranked one of the top ten universities in the UK and Wylde are proud to have been involved in series of design schemes over the past couple of years.

Our story begins in 2018 when Bristol University approached Wylde to help them redesign several Student Support Centres to improve their student welfare and mental health support provision.

The brief was to design warm and welcoming spaces that were adaptable across the various support centres with distinct branding integrated into overall aesthetic. A place that welcomed students, putting them at ease and providing them with spaces to have a quiet conversation with support staff, somewhere to relax and somewhere to meet with others that would be open 24/7/365.

A design scheme was developed in close collaboration with key university stakeholders, including the Residential Life

Team, and was rolled out across each village hub in the North, East and West centres.

A brand identity was developed in natural and neutral tones of greens and greys which visually link each centre together. We used vibrant photography and imagery that reflected the new “Student Life” brand that was developed to use in printed media.
Following the success of the Student Support Centres in 2018, Bristol University invited us to redesign two study spaces in Goldney Hall and Clifton Hill House within the Halls of residences.

It made sense to use the same set of components to give the spaces the same look and feel, familiarity and flexibility being the key, with the advantage of being able to interchange the furniture from site to site in the future. Both Halls have a series of spaces for individual or group study, kitchenettes and meeting rooms. Goldney Hall also has a flexible café area for social events, yoga, open study or just chilling out.

In 2019 the next challenge was the create a series of Living Room areas in each residential Hall. A home away from home, with furniture that used well know high street brands to make each setting more domestic than university. Using a relatively modest budget we developed a set of components that could

be put together to make spaces to eat, game, chill-out, socialise and study in a less formal setting. Each location had a slightly different mix components, whilst maintaining a common theme across each Living Room. Finally, we added crockery & cutlery, blankets, plants, games and books for the finishing touch.

Old Court Lounge is based in Wills Hall of Residence. A historic building from the 1920s that has an Arts and Crafts feel, with wood paneling in rooms and corridors, that was built by the Wills family.

The new scheme was in memory of one of the Alumni students sponsored by their family and needed to retain the historic feel and grandeur of the building, whilst introducing contemporary fittings to bring it up to date.

The final scheme is rich and sumptuous, combining rich colours, fabrics fittings and finishes to complement and blend with the wooden paneling.

To echo the established feel, we selected a range of historical images and curated a gallery of different sized artworks for the walls, some of the documents and photos from University of Bristol’s archives.