Kingston Lafferty Design was thrilled to hear the news that we have been shortlisted for in two categories in the Fit Out Awards 2019.
KLD have been shortlisted for our Hatch Cork Student Living design for the Fit Out Project of the Year – Residential 2019. We have also been shortlisted in the Excellence in Collaboration category along with our clients Hatch Student Living, Elkstone Partners, and collaborators John Paul Construction, Reddy Architecuture and Kerrigan Sheanon Newman (KSN).
Hatch Cork is the flagship location for the new student living brand. The property at Copley Street in Cork city is controlled by Hatch Student Living with financial backing from Elkstone. Hatch acquired the property in February 2018 and set about upgrading a co-living property for students driven by increased demand in the city. The 265-room residence opened in June 2019 after having undergone an extensive €25 million upgrade.
In a highly competitive market, KLD were appointed to define the brand’s visual identity and tasked with creating an impactful and experiential collaborative ground floor space. The carefully considered design encompasses reception, co-working, chill out, study, canteen and interactive spaces to provide inhabitants with an exciting environment, adding significant value and visual appeal to the brand.
Hatch acquired the property in February 2018 and set about upgrading a co-living property for students driven by increased demand in the city. The also wanted the property to act as a hotel during the summer, wishing it to look and feel like a hotel and not just student accommodation doubling as a hotel in the summer.
With this in mind Hatch employed KLD to add that extra design flair and set Hatch apart from other competitors in the market. The company is focused on providing additional accommodation to meet the planned expansion in student numbers over the coming years. When Hatch and Elkstone acquired the block it had 137 bedrooms. It has since almost doubled the size of the residence, located at what was formally the University College Cork school of architecture.
With our design we energised and brought the space to life, making it not only aesthetically pleasing but also a nice place to be. Every perfectly framed space is a performance opportunity with the immersive design imploring interaction from its users, ensuring that every day tells a different story.
The concept sees central core ‘nesting’ area which expands throughout, creating sub spaces or spaces within spaces. The nest area is cocooned by giant bubbles floating overhead. Employing the Hatch logo of a cracked egg, we see the crack spread throughout and dissect the space. These jagged lines form walls and nooks, creating more social spaces and allowing the students to evolve, interact and transform. Layout was incredibly important to define zones. Walkways and a large tunnel guide you through breakout zones/ study/relax areas and hidden nooks which help create innovative, unexpected, secretive spaces.
Hatch Launch in the Newspapers
Getting the Hatch Rooms open on time and on budget was a major feat. The hotel opened its doors on 19 June 2019. It was fully booked on its first weekend. Bookings continued to be strong and right now almost all of the student accommodation has been taken. The magic of this project is how well everyone worked together. KLD’s vision was bold, daring and innovative and required a lot of specialisation and commitment. Whether it was luck or whether you make your luck, everybody came on board and shared the vision. The devil was in the detail. Now each room in the hotel has beautiful finishes, art on the wall, stylish furniture and finishes. The common area is impactful, fun, suited to its audience and caters for a range of facilities. Hatch is the next evolution in student living.
We were thrilled our Hatch Student living project was featured in Wallpaper Magazine online in September:
and we were also in seventh heaven when it featured in one of our favourite blogs Yellowtrace :
Hatch Student Accommodation in Cork, Ireland by Kingston Lafferty Design.
The Fit Out Awards take place on Wednesday 27 November 2019.