Student has a fang-tastic idea

Fourth-year Computer Science student Lucy Davies has set up a Facebook group to encourage students to vote for the newest accommodation block to be named ‘Sunnydale’, after the fictitious town famous for being the setting of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’

On January 4 2012, the University set up a web page to advertise the competition of naming the new student residence near Lakeside, to be opened in October later this year.

Davies felt that the name would be an ideal candidate for a University residence, and suggested that there is likely to be a large number of fans of the show at Warwick.

“[I] thought it would be a bit of fun to submit something… then the idea of Sunnydale… came into my mind, and it was perfect.

“It was geeky and fun yet still seemed to fit with the other accommodation blocks.

Inititally Davies merely sent the link to friends of hers that she knew to be Buffy fans, and suggested that they too submit Sunnydale as a potential name. “But then I realised that the idea would probably find support outside my friendship group” she said.

Davies suggested that the name could be seen as a “tribute” to Joss Whedon, the writer of the television series, whom she referred to as “a great screenwriter with a huge following, and a great man”,

She concluded: “It’s just kinda cool. Shiny, you might say.”

The development will compromise six four-storey student accommodation blocks, containing 527 en-suite student bedrooms configured to provide a single stair core, lift access to all levels, and eight self-contained flats with a maximum of 12 bedrooms. The blocks have also been designed with the landscape of Lakeside in mind, with curved roofs to lower the scale and make the buildings less imposing, and rooms in the roof will have panoramic views over the countryside and campus.

The competition closes midday 13 January. The winner will be announced Monday 23 January and will be invited to officially open the new residence for the 2012/13 academic year.