The ‘spoil’ concrete body of a former chemistry laboratory has been reworked right into a sequence of workspaces for the College of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, on this venture by Civic Architects and VDNDP.
Offering a brand new residence for the Worldwide Institute for Geo-Info Sciences (ITC), the constructing was designed to be an “enduring image” for the campus.
It repurposes an deserted 1970s construction to accommodate brilliant interiors organized round courtyard gardens.
Native studios Civic Architects and VDNDP sought to “embrace the imperfections” of the present constructing, utilizing the concrete body to help a demountable metal construction and partition partitions that may very well be simply reconfigured to go well with future wants.
“The unique constructing was designed for vehicles and due to its low ceilings and vital depth (40 metres) it was very, very darkish – it proved troublesome to reuse,” Civic Architects founding accomplice Jan Lebbink informed Dezeen.
“Our method concerned a change in programming: as an alternative of forcing the present construction to adapt, we tailored the group of the constructing to go well with,” he added.
The doorway to ITC is thru a big corridor designed as its ‘social coronary heart’, set past a small backyard and with a grand wood staircase offering area for employees and college students to collect and resulting in the restaurant at first ground.
Inside, 4 atriums planted with bushes and crops present recent air and pure gentle all through the constructing, every containing a steel spiral staircase to permit them to behave as social connectors between flooring.
“Through the competitors we found that the unique floor ground was simply poured concrete with no structural function,” Lebbink informed Dezeen.
“Seizing this chance, we designated the atriums as areas reserved for nature, that includes bushes planted immediately within the native soil, with folks as friends, reasonably than the opposite approach round.”
“Taking this idea one step additional, every of the 4 atriums has been crafted with its personal distinctive pure character, generously incorporating wooden, water and stone,” he continued.
The workspaces themselves are break up between a floor ground of smaller, extra centered workspaces and an higher ground with “extra dynamic” higher areas.
This division can also be mirrored externally, with smaller timber-framed home windows on the bottom ground and huge areas of glazing on the higher ground sheltered by horizontal louvres.
The inside design, accomplished in collaboration with Studio Groen+Schild, prioritized bio-based and recycled supplies, with oak frames and bamboo flooring.
“This precept prolonged to all of the merchandise we selected, every rigorously chosen for sturdiness and rugged materiality that embraces imperfections,” defined Lebbink.
“This, mixed with the near-ruin high quality of the present construction, has contributed to the nice and cozy and welcoming environment that customers fondly describe as ‘homey,'” he continued.
Elsewhere within the Netherlands, Civic Architects lately reworked a 1930s brick constructing in Waalwijk right into a shoe museum. The studio additionally beforehand created a public library inside a locomotive shed.
Images is by Stijn Bollaert and Mike Bink.
Undertaking credit:
Building physics: Arup
Set up: Valstar Simonis, Croonwolter&dros
Structural Engineer: Schreuders building know-how
Panorama designers: DS Panorama Architects, Flora Nova
Lighting: Joost de Beij
Contractor: Dura Vermeer Building Hengelo, Trebbe
Sustainability Advisor: Buro Lavatory