Designing for Self-fulfillment: Student Housing Concept for Generation Z

Project Type
Innovation
- Service Design

Location
Beirut, Lebanon

Industry
Hospitality

Challenge

The client wanted to transform an outdated hotel in the heart of Beirut’s Hamra district into student dorms, capitalizing on its location close to two major universities. The new vision was to take the skeleton of an old hotel and revive it to accommodate students in a unique way that would differentiate the dorms from the local competition by inspiring students’ journey of self-development. The client required a new business model that would maximise revenues. 

Intervention

As the student experience was at the heart of the client’s vision, Blue Hat began the consulting process by conducting interviews with students to gain insight into demographics, students’ attitudes, wishes and concerns. We also ran a workshop with young Lebanese people to identify their incentives for reaching self-actualization. 

In order to make sure the client’s dorms stood out as unique and differentiated itself from its competition, we studied the latest trends in the industry both globally and locally to identify and exploit a gap in the market. We then curated the brand’s character, purpose, values and onlyness. 

Blue Hat worked in close collaboration with an interior designer to rethink the outdated layout of the existing building. We analyzed the floor plan and came up with a new interior design concept that we ensured was effectively implemented throughout. 

Results

Blue Hat successfully positioned the dorms as the only residence in the area that offers facilities and activities to students that are specifically targeted at helping them develop and reach self-actualization in an area of co-living and challenging social conditions for young people.

We developed an “Explorer” brand character for the dorms, whereby they aim to support students in discovering and reaching their full potential. On each floor, the concept design of the dorms incorporated values identified as important by the Lebanese youth; such as creativity, persistence and ambition. 

We designed building facilities so that students would feel secure, at home, social, productive, pampered and supported. Blue Hat based the design on the students’ needs and wishes determined during our research.

On the more practical side, we classified the rooms and set prices and amenities accordingly and set behavior guidelines for staff. Facilities for the building included study rooms, studios, a gym, game room and an open air cinema.

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