The Grade II listed Old Fire Station built in 1935 has been lovingly converted into a high quality student living development, with a new purpose built accommodation building constructed in the former drill yard completing the transformation. Faced with a challenging combination of old and new, the investor led team behind the project were keen to find a pragmatic response to fitting out a large number of studio bedroom shapes and configurations which would have potentially been both costly and time consuming to undertake with a traditional fitted joinery solution.

Realising a fitted approach would be impractical, JS+P proposed a bespoke designed collection of loose furniture components, which would be practical, creative and cost-effective for the client, but also be unique and attractive to prospective residents of the Old Fire Station, helping to drive lettings and deliver strong occupancy rates.

A challenging combination of old and new meant designing a single solution for over 350 different room shapes and configurations.

“The innovative approach JS+P applied to The Old Fire Station was invaluable during its development and whilst saving time and money often means lowering standards, it certainly hasn’t been the case here.”

Successfully incorporated into all room types, each furniture piece was conceived with utility in mind, enabling users to customise and accessorise, offering a truly unique solution to personal storage in the student room. This approach helped create a friendly and domestic feeling product aesthetic that would appeal to young people. The off-site manufacture of the furniture components also enabled improved installation timescales, helping to relieve pressure on the overall construction programme.

This innovative furniture solution was well received by the client. Its implementation resulted in cost savings to the construction budget, excellent occupancy rates in its first year and high scoring customer satisfaction figures. Now, the legacy of The Old Fire Station lives on as one of the hottest places for students to live in Birmingham.