College students born between 1997 and 2012 (referred to as Gen Z or Zoomers) are unique from Millennials in terms of their lifestyle preferences and student housing needs. Based on focus group input, the Gen Z student desires more “alone, together” spaces where they can see and be seen, and plenty of bandwidth to support their daily technology demands.

Unlike all other generations prior, Gen Z students are the most digitally engaged group of students to date, as they have never known life before technology. Gen Z students are also the most diverse and well-informed, using their experience with digital technology to make informed decisions.

Design and Amenities

Gen Z students are also savvy, cost-conscious consumers looking for value—with many of them having learned financial lessons from their Gen X parents who struggled through the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009. However, Gen Z students are willing to pay for housing amenities that they deem important such as a mix of unit types and technology.

Research tells us that the majority of Gen Z students believe in studying before partying and understand the importance of maximizing value in their residence hall. The most diverse of any generation, 81% of Zoomers believe college is imperative to their careers, with 57% of them enrolled in a two- or four-year college.

The Gen Z student is typically more independent in their learning style than their Millennial counterparts, but they still want to be in social settings, or “alone, together.” When it comes to designing community spaces in residence halls, the Gen Z student wants to be in a communal setting—not isolated in their rooms—where they can choose to interact with others or put in their ear buds for private studying. Providing spaces for gaming is also be important to the Gen Z student, as this generation says they game at least once a week.

The values that Gen Z espouses will also promote more studios and micro units. The combination of wanting privacy, having fewer people share restrooms and the desire for maximizing value will encourage these types of units. Allowing Gen Z students choice is important. Maximizing options of cooking for themselves or having a limited meal plan available will be important. Amenities such as these can help university campuses compete with off-campus housing options.

Technology

To aid in their studies and their daily lives, Zoomers require a lot of bandwidth throughout their day. The typical Gen Z student expects their residence hall to offer streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, plus Wi-Fi and high-speed internet for gaming and social media. Having social spaces where they can work in an “alone, together” scenario.

The Gen Z student also wants to be able to communicate in real-time with their resident advisors and be able to report building issues 24/7 such as the heat not working or the faucet dripping. Student housing software helps protect student housing assets from mounting energy bills and potentially catastrophic leaks through smart thermostats and leak detection sensors.

Safety

Growing up in the age of school shootings, Gen Z students also want their residence halls to be wired with the latest safety technology to protect them. The new generation of security includes high-def cameras, fingerprinting and other biometric processes to gain access to secure areas, as well as access cards for outside entry points.

Deliverability

With digital technology for shopping standard to most Gen Z students, they expect their residence halls to feature secure package centers. More residence halls are being designed with automated package centers that don’t require staff supervision. Items purchased by students online are delivered to the centers and stored directly in secure lockers that can be accessed 24/7 by students using an auto-generated code from a phone app.

Sustainability

Zoomers are also more accustomed to sustainable living and want to see and experience green technology in their residence halls. Sustainable technology often featured in modern student housing designs includes electrochromic glazing on windows that automatically tints from clear to opaque to control the amount of heat and light entering the building; wireless HVAC shutoff technology in student rooms triggered to turn on or off by magnets on doors and windows; and vacancy sensors in each room to control lighting and heating and cooling levels depending on when students are in their rooms. Black switches are also common in student rooms to automatically turn off “phantom loads” when electronics such as cell phones and laptops are left plugged in and not in use.

Universities that work closely with students to test concepts and floor plans for residence hall designs have the advantage of real-time input from students. And while it is important to get their perspective on amenities, it is equally as important to balance what they want in a residence hall with what they need. Above all, student housing design should embody the individual community and culture of the university—and the traditions that will last beyond Generation Z.