Miraisozojuku Project

The dormitory was planned as part of the Miraisozojuku project, which started in 2007. The project had to be halted numerous times for extenuating circumstances such as global financial crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake, though fundraising continued throughout this period. However, In January 2019, Executive Committee at the time began to reappraise the situation and began making moves toward making the project into a reality.

A construction company was selected through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement, and construction began in August 2021. Construction continued throughout the pandemic and the on-campus international student dormitory "H Village" was completed in February 2023. The opening ceremony was held in March 2023, and residents began their university life in the on-campus facilities at the beginning of the 2023 academic year.

The H Village consists of four residential buildings and a common building. The common building faces the road that encircles the rest of campus. The four residential buildings are behind it, arranged around a central plaza.
Three concepts formed the basis of developing the complex: "living in diversity," "solving issues through communication," and "the spirit of experimentation." The dormitory accommodates up to 300 students. Each unit is composed of five private rooms that share a common space, including a living room and bathroom area. Each building has shared kitchens and learning commons to encourage interactions between residents.

The university began advertising the dorm in November 2022. After the first application period (December 2022) and the second application period (March 2023), approximately 120 people, mainly incoming students, applied to be residents. Unit leaders and house leaders have put together a variety of events and programs including a ball-game competition, nurturing the bonds between residents. In September, a barbecue was held to welcome students who started at SFC in the fall, many of whom were international students.

H Village website

In 2015, the "Student Built Campus (SBC)" project was launched by students, faculty, staff members, and graduates as part of the "Miraisozojuku project." Students and faculty in the SBC joint research seminars worked on designing the facilities under the mantra, "creating our future campus ourselves."

Through this project, SFC has constructed a total of seven facilities with different designs and purposes which can be run by those who use them. The facilities cover everything from planning, design, construction, facilities management, trouble-shooting, and demolition. The initiative is not limited to just the tangible aspects of the physical buildings, but also its intangible aspects that involve developing educational programs or operational systems to be used in the facilities. It represents an unprecedented way of thinking about what a university can be.

Construction of residential facility 1 and DFF-W was completed in 2016, and residential facility 2 was completed in 2018. After all of the SBC facilities were constructed with the completion of β3, β4, β Dome, β Studio, and β Pavilion in 2020, the EAST Zone was renamed "β Village," which functions as a hub for SFC's residential and educational research, and it started its full-scale activities.

The β Village is currently used for classes on SBC-related subjects (Introduction to SBC, SBC Practice, etc.), as well as the implementation of education and research in live-in formats, such as research seminar camps and special research projects.
In addition, it is used as a venue for exhibitions, workshops, and research results presentations for events such as the Tanabata Festival, the Camp for Designing the Future, and Open Research Forum (ORF).

β Village website