BuildingforBouwkunde | BK2008-3784

LEARNING AND CREATING

Olli Raila (1983, student), Heikki Muntola, Heikki Riitahuhta,
Mikko Jakonen and Eetu Arponen
Department of Architecture, University of Oulu
Oulu, Finland

Motivation by the designer

Modern campus should be an active and sustainable community which is characterized by interesting places to study and dwell. LEARNING AND CREATING is inspired by the European rural milieu and Old towns. Out of these two elements the design aims to create an intriguing learning environment with a humane and pleasant scale. The essential element in the concept is to divide the spaces on two levels “LEARNING” and “CREATING”. The ground floor bustling with activities concentrates on the social aspect of learning and the floors above the green roof feature ultimate peace where surrounding landscape inspires the creativity.

LEARNING
Varying from inner gardens to the small alleys the ground floor is full of activity with its restaurants, coffee houses, lecture halls, computer and other study labs. Administration for students is also placed in the ground floor. Cycling is promoted by having bicycle parks next to the lecture halls.

CREATING
Working floors with private offices and studio spaces with cozy terraces offer inspiring and pleasant atmosphere. Wooden bridges meander though the garden between the houses connecting them to faculty clubs and other services. The garden consists of vegetation covered glass roofs and fruit trees planted on the first floor ceiling. The terraces are facing south maximizing the natural light.

Service, maintenance, storage, HVAC and parking is situated below the ground floor. Campus is designed considering accessibility for everyone from disabled person to a cyclist. All technical appliances including electricity, building appliances and vertical connections are centralized and operated from the hybrid masonry cores running through each building mass. Also the heating and cooling system is integrated in the cores storing the heat during the day and conveying it in the night. Centralizing all HVAC into the cores allows the plan to be open and easily transformable. Flexibility is ideal for a university campus and creates a chance for the faculty and students to contribute to their learning environment and take responsibility of the education throughout the buildings life-cycle. Different spaces are redefined by moving walls or just furniture. The cores can be manufactured or to be built on site.

The canal creates fresh, dynamic and inspiring atmosphere on the campus. With its changing character it works as a focal point orientating on the campus. It is also the central mean of treating and controlling the rainwater and is used as a water storage for e.g. green irrigation, sanitary appliances and fire protection.

Because there is a connection outside from most of the spaces the garden works as an extension of the educational spaces throughout most of the year. Naturally-heated glass and vegetation covered foyers work as a buffer zone balancing the temperature and humidity differences of out- and inside air. These solutions reduce the construction and operational costs compared to the conventional heated volume. Plants producing oxygen improve air quality inside, create shadow in the summer but let the light in during the winter period. Inner gardens can be opened to the buffer zone allowing better air circulation.

Wood as one of the main construction material is aesthetic and ecological. It is easy to maintain and it is renewable. Glazing is used to create natural lit spaces where heat is blocked with double glazed glass and vegetation. Concrete is used especially for the cores and for the spaces requiring higher class of durability.

Design can be easily built in phases making it possible to start the teaching in parts of the campus very quickly. Materials and forms create a strong connection to the small villages characteristic to the surrounding Dutch as well as European rural milieu and can be identified as a comfortable place for different nationalities to work together at.

LEARNING AND CREATING is humane scale, sustainability and transferability at its best creating architectural playground intriguing the minds of the future.

Total gross area of the building is 46200sqm, usable area being 33090sqm.

Comments by the Jury

The rural character of LEARNING AND CREATING had already attracted attention in the first round. This entry claims its inspiration from ‘the European rural milieu’. Whereas most entries presented an idea of Bouwkunde as an urban environment, this proposal takes a reverse position. This is a refreshing approach, actually acknowledging the peripheral, suburban position of the TU Delft campus. Indeed, many assignments of contemporary and future architects could very well be situated in such suburban conditions. For this function, the jury finds the architectural expression surprising, with prototypically small houses seemingly giving a totally different impression than that of an internationally renowned institute. The architectural concept is based on two levels: learning and creating. Learning takes place in various facilities on the ground floor, which can be seen as a continuous landscape. The separate houses are meant as private offices and studio spaces where the creative processes occur. Technically, the proposal is well elaborated, taking into account construction, materiality, sustainable solutions and the phases of the building process. For the jury, the village-like image raises discussion. Can Bouwkunde afford a ‘provincial’ expression, or should it provide an answer to Delft University of Technology's ‘urban’ ambitions? While the scheme could suffer from its fragmented character, a good balance between fragmentation and hierarchy can be achieved; in fact, the project's non-hierarchical spatial organisation provides for very interesting spaces. The use of gardens is a subtle and attractive way of organising various activities. The design provides a stage for activities, rather than a strictly defined architectural form. This stage allows future possibilities to be embraced, while providing the flexibility to add different elements. The jury concludes that LEARNING AND CREATING is a very strong concept, with modesty in the message.