David Williamson

The new SU is an objectively impressive building. A marvel only possible in the 21st century where you can feel almost every pound spent. And yet anytime I’ve been inside the building, be it by myself or with others, the only feeling I’ve felt is overwhelming loneliness. It seems the architects and interior designers forgot one crucial detail; the SU is a place for students.

This feeling is perhaps most evident in the new Union bar. A bar that feels more like a garden centre than a place to socialise. From the limited seats to the benches which feel like they were ordered with social distancing in mind, the Union Bar feels like a place where the design ensures you cannot meet new people.

This design trend is pervasive throughout the entire building. Whilst hyperbolic, the closest comparison is the trend in public spaces known as ‘hostile architecture’.

You may have noticed that bus shelters and train stations no longer have long benches. Or, how in public parks there are large obtrusive arm rests which split the bench up. These are there for one purpose; to discourage people from staying in that public space for long. This design trend is evident in the ‘grand staircase’ of the SU building which has seat cushions segregated to one person per cushion. Design such as this isn’t just hostile to the most vulnerable, it is hostile to every person who wants to use it. The design encourages people to sit there on their own and maybe take a photo for their Be-Real.

Whilst this next point may seem contradictory, it plays into the wider problem. The new building is too open. Why is this a problem for socialising? When every room has at least one full wall window it is incredibly hard to not feel watched by everyone around you. The design of the building is eerily evocative of a panopticon, whereas Foucault explains that students “should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers”. This coupled with the lack of any society rooms, makes the new SU building feel cold and unwelcoming to the very people it is meant to be designed for.

Whilst this article may come across as conspiratorial, the design decisions have a very real impact.

The free breakfasts initiative run by the University and Students’ Union is on paper a tremendous measure which does help students in this time of rising living costs. However, when I went, I just felt so alone. The student lounge does not facilitate conversation and so I sat there, ate my porridge, then left. The feeling of community is something which is reported by the University as something that it seeks to facilitate. At the HAPP ‘town hall’ at the start of the year it was one of the key points being raised. And yet, the building where the community should be built and fostered seems designed to at every turn prevent any real community from growing.

David Williamson is deputy Comment editor at The Scoop and a PPE student at Queen’s University Belfast

Why We All Feel So Lonely at One Elmwood