It’s been fascinating watching students colonize SFU Surrey. The campus, part of Surrey Central City – Bing Thom’s integration of office tower, shopping mall and university – opened only a few years ago. And month by month, the students are sprawling into the corridors, atria and little glass-fronted rooms.
Even though they grab any chair, couch or table on which to perch a laptop, there’s one place they don’t:
The sunken seatwells purposely designed to invite interaction remain stubbornly vacant.
The other example of design that didn’t quite 
get it right is an omission. Not enough electrical outlets. And since every student has a laptop, or the need to recharge batteries on some kind of pad or pod, they’ve improvised. The electric octopus is a common sight.
SFU Surrey, though, is a stunning success. If ever a building can be said to have transformed a city’s sense of itself, it’s Thom’s Central City. And apparently Bing has done the same in Southwest Washington, D.C. with the opening of the Arena Stage Theater.
People also tend to avoid the seats that face each other on the newer buses (at the rear). God forbid we accidentally look at each other or interact.
I think most Canadians like their personal space.
There’s the question of smells too. So many people seem to have forgotten either good sense (by being conservative with their personal fragrences) or personal hygiene (by showering regularly). I wouldn’t really want to sit in those seats either seeing as they’re rather close together.
As for the bus seats that face each other those are uncomfortable for practical reasons of space. I’m about 6 foot, or 1.8 meters, and relatively thin. If I sit in those seats I need to either sit on the outside seat and have my legs sprawling into the isle, or I need to sit up perfectly straight and adjust my legs, as if I’m practising my posture or something, so that I don’t touch the person across from me. This is annoying in the morning, because it basically prevents me from getting a little nap as I commute. Those seats are fine if everyone sitting in them is a lot smaller, but they didn’t consider the average (or above average) sized male when they designed them. And I’m not talking about the width either, the width is fine.
Also, maybe this is just me, but whenever a forward facing seat becomes free I tend to switch to that one because I prefer to look in the direction I’m travelling. It doesn’t feel as comfortable to sit on the side or look in the opposite direction of the bus.
The campus has quite the mix of elements which work well, and those that make you wonder what they were thinking. From day one students tried to figure out how to use those ‘conversation pits’ effectively. Lots of sitting on the ground inside them, or putting chairs in there, but very little of the intended use. They make good ball pits though.
The two most effective parts are probably the mezzanine/grand entrance way, and the huge number of little meeting rooms that students can book. The rest of the campus is organized around the mezzanine which you pass through on entering and to go to the various wings. http://www.surrey.sfu.ca/virtual-tour/360-views/mezzanine
The meeting rooms are bookable by students who are constantly using them to work, study, meet their teams, and occasionally catch a quick nap. They’re popular with students from Kwantlen and Douglas college looking for a place to study after hours as well.
One of the oddest choices, which I’m told Bing Thom disclaimed any knowledge of, is the design of the bathrooms. http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-bh/1067643613 I can only think someone wanted you to leave them as fast as possible.
William H. Whyte in either City or an earlier book noted that fixed seating schemes like the seating well noted are always a failure in public spaces. People prefer to define their own social groups and chairs that move best facilitate this.
Similarly in fast food restaurants, people don’t like the all in one picnic table style table and chairs – whether because of handicapped access needs, obesity (not fitting in the allocated clearance) or just having to “slide” into a seat.
And don’t you hate how a lot of restaurants have moved to booth seating to discourage large parties? Lots of restaurants only have one large table or area where a party of 10 or more can be seated.