Beyond Buildings: How Does Sustainable Campus Design Shape Student Lives? Hail University as a Case Study

Sustainable campus design plays a vital role in shaping student well-being, academic performance, and institutional adaptability. This study investigates how sustainable design strategies influence student life at Hail University, Saudi Arabia, a campus located in an arid, culturally specific environment that presents unique spatial and climatic challenges. By integrating empirical observations, structured surveys (n = 1186), and semi-structured interviews, the research adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine three core dimensions: social life enhancement, environmental sustainability, and student-centric design. The methodology incorporates both descriptive and inferential analyses, including correlation, regression, and ANOVA, to evaluate the impact of design features on student satisfaction, engagement, and resource efficiency. Results show that a 10% increase in social infrastructure correlates with a 6.5% rise in student satisfaction. The study further identifies gaps in climate-responsive planning, green space utilization, and participatory design practices. It offers a replicable, context-sensitive framework for sustainable campus development that aligns with multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contributing new insights to the global discourse on higher education environments in arid regions.