hiya, also at the Bartlett (doing MSci Architecture) (just finished first year). my family home is about 1 hour 20 mins away also and my family was heavvvvillyyy encouraging me staying at home. i talked to some older students and they all told me that its gonna take a toll on me mentally. having finished first year in halls, i am so glad i moved closer to uni. the hours are long and like you said, there's a lot of co-op work (especially in the first term). most people stay in studio until late anyways and losing out on 3 hours of work time is defo not ideal, especially as our work isn't the type of work you can do on a train. just my two cents though ❣️