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University College Ghent, Belgium : Campus Schoonmeersen

Campus Schoonmeersen Buildings - design by SADAR + VUGA Arhitekti

26 Apr 2012 University College Ghent Campus Schoonmeersen Design: SADAR + VUGA d.o.o. with LENS°ASS Architecten New Building for the Study of Social Work (SOAG), Sports Hall Extension and Renovation of Building B and Student Plaza Ghent, Belgium Open Call / Invited Competition, First Prize Building for the Study of Social Work (left) ; New Multipurpose Sports Hall (middle) ; Student Plaza and Renovation of Building B (right): images © SADAR + VUGA SADAR + VUGA in collaboration with LENS°ASS Architecten participated in an invited competition of the Vlaams Bauwmeester Open Call 21. The competition called for three new buildings on the Campus Schoonmeersen of the University College Ghent, a building for the Study of Social Work (SOAG), a Sports Hall Extension and lastly the Renovation of Building B and adjoining Student Plaza. Among five invited participants SADAR + VUGA won first prize for the design of the three markers of the campus developement masterplan. The project is expected to commence in late May. Three projects in the campus Proposal for the three main locations on the Ghent campus is based on following starting points: - to create two new campus gates and a central point, a hub in between - to develop projects each with their own distinctive character - to develop a more a spatial and experimental connection between the projects, rather than a formal or stylistic one - to conceive the three projects as the first buildings in the future master plan development - they need to become markers of directions and quality projected for the entire campus development in the future Three monolithic volumes are proposed: 1. a permeable rectangular volume for the new social faculty ‘Soag’, the southern campus gate 2. an elevated reflective volume for the new sports hall, the northern campus gate 3. a grand circular fountain as the main feature for the student plaza development and its counterpoint, a new cafeteria in the volume of the existing auditorium All three projects will become social incubators in the campus of Ghent, each a space of interaction between the campus and the city of Ghent. The proposals distinctive visual appearance, and its intended social character will attract large span of people, the three projects are to become new public places of Ghent, a new public destination. We hope to unlock the true public value of a university campus within a city. New Building for the Study of Social Work (SOAG) The Soag building will be the first new building in the context of the masterplan for the Clean Marsen campus. Our proposal aims towards a new type of a school/ faculty building; and the faculty of social studies seems to be an appropriate program for that. SOAG - Ground Floor Entrance Level ; SOAG - Second Floor ; SOAG - Second Floor: images © SADAR + VUGA The Soag building is a free standing volume, set back off the Voskenslaan , creating an open space as a transition between residential homes along the street and the large green axis of the future masterplan development. Its monolithic massing communicates with its immediate surroundings with a permeable shading membrane, horizontal lamellas which evenly wrap the building’s englazed volume. The wrap opens up at the north-west side of the building in front of the plaza as a big entrance arch, unveiling the interior of the building on the ground floor. The big entrance arch act as inviting element which directs people form the plaza/lawn outside to the interior of the building. Soag is developed as a new school environment, as a hybrid studyscape, where students, teachers, visitors and a general public meet, interact, study, work and play. Therefore we need to change first the circulation through the building. Our proposal avoids corridors in the building, as well as separation between vertical and horizontal circulation. Two big round atriums provide visual connection between the floors, vertical and horizontal circulation on the atriums edges provides a smooth transition between the floors. The central stripe with the two atriums becomes a new type of school space. It is developed on four levels, from the entrance level to the inhabited roof. This a space for meetings, gatherings, informal events, performances and spectating, as well as for study and work. It becomes a sort of interior semi public space, a vertical hall, where activities on each floor are evenly stimulated by visual connection through the atrium space. On each level, there are entrances to classrooms on both side stripes, leading from the central stripe. The porous monolithic volume acts visually as a recognizable mark of future campus development. Namely, the most open, socially interactive central stripe of the building stretches to all way to the glass façade and shading lamellas , creating a visual connection between the street space and the activity in the interior, whereas more standard organized classrooms of the NW and SE stripe are visually detached from the lamellas by evacuation corridors. Thus, the building has a different visual depths: the entrance arch is the deepest, the street and campus side are the shallowest.   images © SADAR + VUGA The new Soag building gets a character of a public building, where activities of the school are not only presented to the campus but also to the general public and inhabitants of Ghent. This public environment would not happen only on the ground floor: the public path – the promenade stretches, through all levels, passing by an exhibition area, working desks, study chambers and a cafeteria, ending on the roof. The promenade acts as a presentation route of the life of the school. image © SADAR + VUGA A social, visual and spatial permeability of the building and its hybridization between school and public character are supported by the environmental/atmospheric character of the building. The displaced overlay of the two atriums, as well as their roof shading, which provided insulation in winter and spring/autumn and shading in summer stimulates a migration of people and activities in the building. Their tendency to find the most comfortable place along the promenade in a certain season as well as the time of the day, provides an ever changing atmosphere in the building. Sports Hall Extension The new sports hall becomes a northern gate to the campus. Its monolithic volume is on the northern side lifted up, opening its interior sports ground to a viewing from the surrounding. Namely, an englazed stripe under the cantilevered volume unveils activities indoor to a passer-by, drivers and visitors of the campus. A careful dimensioning of the stripe as well as its connecting to a campus pedestrian route triggers a curiosity of passers by and attracts them to enter the building. Once inside, a ramp, an access to stands in the cantilevered level, becomes a deviation of the campus pedestrian route, creating a public promenade through the building. image © SADAR + VUGA A visual connection between outside and inside which happens on the sports ground is interrupted by positioning a stands level in the cantilevered part of the volume: here the main focus of spectators is a sport or entertaining event on the sports ground and there should be no visual obstacles. The new sports hall takes advantage of the existing structure: what is there already should be reused and adapted with minimum interventions. Therefore the core space at the end of the existing building gets extended and adapted to house new administration, the gym and the meeting and social areas. It becomes a mediator between the new and the existing sports hall. Its exterior facade becomes the interior wall of the new sports hall. The monolithic volume of the new sports hall is fairly simple, compact, non structured, almost abstract. image © SADAR + VUGA The wrap of the volume is non-neutral. Its semi reflective concave/convex surface mediates the happenings in its immediate surroundings into the building, creating a context’s blurred and twisted appearance and emphasizing its dynamics. Movement of trains, people passing by or athletes on running tracks reflected in the building surface, together with a ‘projection of the interior sports events create an ever changing appearance of the building. Thus, the monolithic volume of the new sports hall becomes a presentation device of a sports atmosphere of the campus. Student Plaza and Renovation of Building B The student plaza is considered as this vast area where a common nominator to different functional and atmospheric zones is a hexagonal pavement. The plaza does not have sharply defined edges: hexagonal pavement smoothly transit either into grass, gravel or asphalt surfaces, outlining the plaza more as a zone than a completely defined area. This is an area of main informal activities and social gatherings of the entire campus. The plaza visually, spatially and functionally transits into a new multipurpose cafeteria positioned in the volume of the existing auditoria and adjacent entrance hall. Renovation of Building B and Student Plaza ; Renovation of Building B and Student Plaza – Overall ; Renovation of Building B – Interior: images © SADAR + VUGA The vastness of the plaza and its deliberately loose programmatic definition of micro-zones calls for a focal point, for a center. Our proposal suggests a large monolithic urban element, a circular water mirror like fountain on their southern part of the plaza, where southern part of the campus transits into the northern one. The presence of the circular fountain acts as a switch, as an attractor on the otherwise transitory plaza. The fountain consists of two parts: a circular water mirror and circular wood paved bends which under different angles embrace the water mirror. The fountain appears as big ‘EYE’, reflecting its surroundings and people sitting, laying or playing around in the water surface. The Eye on the plaza becomes a destination not only for students but for inhabitants of Ghent too. The water mirror connects to the water channeling concept of the master plan, as well as to the presence of the water in the center of Ghent. After analyzing the existing situation, we found out that the current distribution of the program is conceived in an illogical manner. The student plaza faces the blind wall of the today’s auditorium. The cafeteria, on the contrary, is located in the anonymous area behind building B. The two programs, plaza and cafeteria are not linked at all. In addition, building B also has a limited number of accesses which creates a funnel-effect. To create a vibrant student plaza, the square needs to be linked directly to programs that reinforce its function as a central public space where students want to stay. Therefore we swap the position of the cafeteria and auditorium. The cafeteria is in this way directly linked to the student plaza and the auditorium to the calmer area at the back of building B. The structure of the current auditorium is stripped, the closed walls are partly cut out. A bright space is generated that opens to the central plaza. Folding doors emphasize the open feeling. The finishings are brute. The central part of the floor of the current cafeteria will be let down, a stage is automatically provided. By providing a tour around the central space we create a dynamic space where interactive lessons can be given. Obstruction is provided by curtains al around. images © SADAR + VUGA University College Ghent - Building Information Type: Educational, culture Source: Open Call invited competition, first prize Client: HOGENT, Gent Project phase: competition Site: Gent, Belgium Student Plaza Site area: 9 182,96 m2 New SOAG building Building surface area: 14 967,85 bruto Site area: 20 000,00 m2 Building B renovation Building surface area: - m2 bruto Site area: 9 182,96 m2 Sports hall extension Building surface area: 2 597,60 m2 bruto Site area: 3 731,37 m2 Programme: School for social studies, sports hall extension and renovation of building B lobby and student plaza Structure: Reinforced Concrete, Steel structure Architects Sadar + Vuga (Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Jure Hrovat, Peter Sovinc, Victor Barbalato III, Andreas Cesarini, Jurij Ličen) LENS°ASS (Bart Lens - arch., Georg Schmidthals - ir. arch., Thijs Prinsen - arch., Arian Schelstraete - int. arch., Veerle Ramaekers - arch. assistant, Ariadnna Varela - adm.) Structure consultants Atelier One + Bureau Partners nv (Aran Chadwick - ir., Luis Fernandez - ir., Maria Eugenia Villafane - ir.arch., Wim Schamp - ir.arch., Nik Vandemaele - arch., Jozef Vandroogbroeck - ir., Aelbrecht Moorgat - ir.) Enviromental consultants Bureau Partners nv (Wim Schamp - ir.arch., Nik Vandemaele - arch., Jozef Vandroogbroeck - ir., Aelbrecht Moorgat - ir.) Acoustics Daidalos-Peutz (Paul Mees - ir., Filip Descamps - ir., Martijn Vercammen - ir., Bert Cosemans - ir., Friedl Decock - ir. arch., Dries Haesenconck - ir. arch.) Snoeck & Partners nv (Hugo Snoeck - ir. arch., Joost Declercq - ir. arch., Dirk Rapol – stedenbouwkundige) University College Ghent Campus Schoonmeersen images / information from SADAR + VUGA Arhitekti SADAR + VUGA Ed. If interested in this practice please read 'SADAR + VUGA: A Review', it is the most intriguing and interesting architecture book I've read in the last year [Adrian Welch].

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University College Ghent : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt

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