VUC SYD BY AART ARCHITECTS + ZENI ARCHITECTS

The new education centre for VUC Syd in Haderslev, Denmark, has no traditional classrooms.

 

Instead, it appears as a vibrant and visually engaging educational environment, in which group areas, presentation spaces, dialogue cubicles and quiet zones allow for a more diverse approach to education.

Inspired by its unique location on Haderslev’s waterfront the new education centre has been designed as an atrium building, with a 360° view of the city and the harbour. The education centre’s terraces are a key element in its expression.

In a movement, which starts right down at ground level and ends up on the top floor, the terraces twine around the building, creating a vertical schoolyard and uniting indoors and outdoors in a single gesture. However, the education centre is not only about making a distinctive mark on Haderslev’s waterfront.

It also provides the setting for a future-oriented educational environment by combining expertise with modern information technology and innovative teaching methods. Therefore, the education centre has no permanent classrooms.

Instead, it is has been designed as a vibrant and visually engaging educational environment, united by the atrium and the staggered staircase at the heart of the building. To create a clear educational environment the floors have been divided into subject areas.

The first floor is dedicated to science subjects, the second floor to cultural subjects and the third floor to modern languages. Thus, the education centre challenges the traditional notion of a school built up on the basis of permanent classrooms, in favour of a more flexible model in relation both to distribution of space and the flow of the students.

This design approach creates a far more vibrant and effective educational environment, in which team areas, lecture rooms, dialogue cubicles, quiet zones and sports facilities allow for a more diverse approach to education.

Modern IT has been given high priority in the design and layout of the education centre. For example, every student is issued with his/her own iPad or MacBook, while 165 digital touch screens in different sizes have been integrated as a natural component of the educational environment.

Contact to the city has also been given high priority. This finds expression in the public ground floor, which encompasses the public space into the education centre and includes a culture café and lecture theatre, which provides space for larger-scale events.

Location: Haderslev, Denmark

Architects: AART Architects, ZENI Architects

Engineer: Cowi

Area: 8600.0 m2

Year: 2013

Photographs: Adam Moerk

SPAULDING PAOLOZZI CENTER BY ALLIED WORKS ARCHITECTURE

These days will be decided the preliminary approval for the design of the Spaulding Paolozzi Center, the new home of the Clemson Architecture Center at 292 Meeting St.

Clemson University officials have selected Allied WorksArchitecture, in association with e.e. fava architects, etc., for architectural and design work on a permanent home for the university’s architecture and historic preservation programs in Charleston.

The plans call for design and construction of an approximately 31,000-square-foot, three-story building at 292 Meeting St., in the city’s historic district. The new facility will be named after Countess Alicia Spaulding Paolozzi in recognition of a gift from the Spaulding Paolozzi Foundation.

It will support highly collaborative teaching, learning and research in Clemson’s Charleston-based programs in architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, real estate development and its graduate program in historic preservation offered in conjunction with the College of Charleston.

The programs will enroll about 100 students per semester. The sleek, modern design features a lot of concrete and glass, and it's taken no shortage of flak from the keepers of traditional architecture styles in Charleston.

“The university selection committee was impressed with the outstanding quality of all the proposals submitted for this project,” said Richard Goodstein, dean of Clemson’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

“We selected the team of Allied Works and e.e. fava architects, etc. because of their deep experience in urban design, their commitment to sustainability and their demonstrated sensitivity to place and context.”

EDUCATION CENTER ERASMUS MC BY CLAUS EN KAAN ARCHITECTEN

The Erasmus MC is a large complex that contains many different elements. Its most eye-catching feature is the white tower of the Medical Faculty, which was designed in 1965-68 by the Delft office of OD 205, right next to the Dijkzigt Hospital (built between 1952-61).

In 2002, the Executive Board decided to undertake a complete refurbishment with particular focus on the educational facilities. Claus en Kaan Architecten won the architectural competition which was held in 2003 to prepare a master plan. This design is prompted by the desire for a better integration of all the teaching facilities connected with the Medical Centre.

The Medical Centre thereby hoped to optimise the synergy between the departments, their staff and their expertise. This ambition called for a new building that matches both the goals and the existing buildings on location. The design, however, also contributed to a better integration and linking of the entire Erasmus Medical Centre with the city.

In that process the Westzeedijk, but especially the adjacent Museumpark, must be transformed from barriers into a turntable or meeting point. After all, other institutions border on this park which also contribute to an urban culture such as the museums, the Kunsthal, the Medical Faculty, the Polytechnic, and the Erasmiaans Gymnasium. The urban and cultural potential of the park and its potential as a flywheel have hardly been exploited so far. 

The idea of a turntable and meeting point can also be seen inside the building itself. Various components of health care are represented with their teaching institution in the new Teaching Centre. During their study, students can meet and exchange ideas with colleagues from related disciplines. The master plan, with a strategy and sketch design, envisages a large study landscape as the focal point of the Teaching Centre where all students, teachers and members of staff are able to meet one another.

One of the main features of the Education Centre is the monumental bookcase in the Medical Library which stands at the far end of the hall flanked by two pristine white spiral staircases. Spanning 35 m long by 11 m high: it can store 2 km of books!  It stands along the wall where the hall is at its widest and includes openings at regular intervals to let the daylight through. 

This bookcase,  the study islands, wooden furniture and wooden walls work together to make the hall a pleasant environment for students to study privately or linger with friends. The central meeting point in the Education Center is the Onderwijsplein (Education Square). It includes more than 400 work and study places, the Medical Library, computer and catering facilities.

Iconic elements in the design are the glass roof, which covers the complete square and the enormous wall of books containing two kilometres of scientific books and journals. The team of architects drew inspiration for the design from large hotel lobbies and libraries. They sought tranquility, simplicity and a clear layout in this complex environment where many people gather. The roof is the most impressive part of the design.

The large, almost column-free span has a wonderful geometric design where the sound and incidence of light are regulated. Also particularly remarkable is the more than 35 meters long and eleven meters high bookcase containing the Medical Library collection found at the head of the education square. A study landscape has been created on the education square consisting of open plan islands with units at different heights where students can study and work, both individually and in groups.

Some units are more enclosed to minimize disturbance. The 'old' lecture rooms have been renovated to meet all modern requirements. One of these rooms, the Professor Andries Querido Hall, has been designed as ceremonial hall and will be used for thesis defense ceremonies, doctoral graduation ceremonies and symposia.

 

 

Location: Rotterdam, Holland

Architects: Claus en Kaan Architecten

Project Team: Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio

Design adviser: Aronsohn Raadgevende Ingenieurs

Main contractor: J.P. van Eesteren

Bespoke joinery walls / doors: Van der Plas Meubel en Project ‘s-Hertogenbosch

Solidwood furniture: 13Speciaal

Parquet flooring: Finesse Parket Rosmalen

Bespoke joinery (study islands):  Retera Veldhoven

Coffee bar: Roverdi, Berkel en Rodenrijs

Gross floor area: 34,000 m2

Cost: €52 million, excl. VAT

Year: 2012

Client: Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam