The ground floor comprised an entrance reception area with art deco 1930s revolving door of glass and wooden construction (painted dark brown), stairs to the right immediately behind the reception desk (which at the time it was student halls of residence had two pull-down metal mesh roller shutters) led to each of the 7 floors on a tight rectangular spiral with a narrow 6 inch wide "lightwell" gap through which an item could be dropped to the last set of stairs behind reception, there was an art deco glass wooden framed door with old style meshed fire resistant glass and art deco chrome plated double push bars at waist height which led to the large dining room where 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner were served for students and 3 meals a day on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) were served when it was expected that most students would be present at any time of the day as opposed to weekdays when college or university would take up the day including "lunch time" (this was included in the accommodation cost).

To the left was a "pigeon hole" postal drop off shelf area which was very insecure and from which mail was regularly removed/tampered by individuals making unauthorised entry whilst the entry door was unlocked by students or after being let in by students, as well as an old style token card operated black and white photocopier and a Coca-Cola soft drink can vending machine, the lifts/elevators were visible from here (two 1930s era OTIS lifts) as well as a locked access by request storage room and male toilets.

There was one small kitchen to heat food on the back west corner facing the lightwell-inwards on each of the student accommodation floors which contained a fridge-freezer combination, a four plate hotplate, a wall mounted hot water dispenser for making hot drinks and a microwave oven as well as a table and some chairs, additionally there were Coca-Cola selection vending machines situated in the kitchens on floors 2 and 6 selling Coca-Cola, diet coke,[citation needed] sprite, Fanta and off-brand "iron brew" a Scottish fruit flavoured fizzy carbonated soda/soft drink.

During the years as student accommodation (as was and still is commonplace in Scotland) Baird Hall was kept open and the rooms made available to tourists at cheap rates in the summer closed season (June, July and August).

Today many student accommodation buildings remain open during summer to take advantage of tourism, in a change of ownership structure a large proportion Halls of residence/dorms in Scotland and the UK as a whole are now privately operated and owned by businesses and no longer held by colleges and universities.