Beacon News

By Melissa Novak

Students, faculty and staff gathered in early October to celebrate the reopening of the Center for Student Success (CSS) Annex, which now houses the Botanical Sensory Room. Sensory rooms on campus are designed to help students relax, reset and regulate during busy academic days.  

Thoughtful environmental design can influence how people feel, focus and interact with their surroundings. 

Inspired by the sights and textures of a rainforest or tropical oasis, the Botanical Sensory Room works to transport Beacon College students somewhere they can calm their minds and ground themselves with natural elements before returning to their academic work. 

“Knowing how successful our concept of Open Learning has been, and how quickly we were outgrowing the space in the main building, we saw the Annex renovation as an opportunity to do everything right from the beginning,” said Dr. Oksana Hagerty, dean of the Robey Center for Student Success. 

The room was thoughtfully designed with adjustable lighting, natural elements and sensory-friendly features to create a calm, soothing atmosphere. Lighting throughout the room can be adjusted to meet student preferences or modified to complement natural daylight to help inspire mindfulness or relaxation. Additional features include carefully selected paint colors, varied seating options, textured materials and decor choices that allow for engaging sensory experiences. 

The redesign was a collaborative response aimed at creating spaces for students that would best support their needs beyond the classroom. Jennifer Castilloveitia, Beacon College’s occupational therapist, helped design the space and its sensory experience. 

While Castillovietia has designed two other sensory rooms on campus, this project presented a unique challenge: integrating sensory regulation into an academic study space.”One side of the room has an option to have more light and highlight some of the tactile features such as vines, hanging crystals, and colorful plants that can be touched for more engaging sensory experiences. The other half of the room is in a blue tint with lighting from the custom-crafted pond. Students can hold stones, push the faux water, brush against the plants, and interact with the fidget frogs. There is also low seating to invoke being grounded and having a fuller perspective of the room from the bottom up,” Castilloveitia  explained. 

Students are encouraged to use this space to relax and prepare for academic tasks or manage daily stress. Sensory spaces can reduce anxiety, promote self-regulation and provide support during periods of heightened stress. 

“Designated rooms such as this help send a message to students that breaks and relaxing environments are important and encouraged, even when our productive culture does not always present this in our daily messages,” Castilloveitia  said. 

“The idea was to create a place in which students could both work and decompress — not one or the other,” Hagerty explained. “This philosophy will allow students to create a different way of doing academic work, with both the opportunity and expectation to reset rather than simply push through, and to self-regulate and self-soothe rather than always seek those experiences externally.” 

The space is intended primarily for upper-level students, encouraging them to develop increasingly independent strategies for self-regulation and productive academic work by choosing an environment that best supports their needs. Users are asked to be respectful of noise levels and to consult a staff member before adjusting the lighting.  

 

 

The room is open Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Maximum occupancy is eight people. Guests are asked to be respectful of noise levels and to not adjust the lights, or to ask a staff member if this is needed. For more information about the Botanical Sensory Room, contact Jennifer Castilloveitia at jcastilloveitia@beaconcollege.edu or 352-638-9727.