In a competition to design a "Learning Hub" for students at Nanyang University in Singapore, London-based firm Heatherwick Studio has won with a rounded, hive-like design. The £360 million project has won the BCA Green Mark Platinum Award for Sustainability from the government of Singapore.
The architects said that the design is meant to transcend the original purpose of a university building, redefining the spaces where students collaborate.
Rather than a building principally meant to house educational texts, they sought to design an appealing place for students to work and socialize, given the fact that the Internet makes it possible for educational information to be accessed outside of university buildings.
Fifty-six rooms will be condensed into a space with no conventional corridors, and will center around an area that can be entered from 360 degrees, Arch Daily reports. This central space will link all of the structure's separate towers, which contain classrooms stacked upon one another. Selected floors will also feature gardens.
"Another inspiration for the hub was a wish to break down the traditional, square, forward-facing classrooms with a clear front and hierarchy, and move to a cornerless space, where teachers and students mix on a more equal basis," Heatherwick Studio said in a statement.
"In this model, students work together around shared tables, with teacher as facilitator and partner in the voyage of learning, rather than ‘master’ executing a top-down model of pedagogy."
Heatherwick will work with local architects CPG Consultants to fully realize the Learning Hub. All renderings courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.
Related Stories
| Apr 10, 2013
6 funding sources for charter school construction
Competition for grants, loans, and bond financing among charter schools is heating up, so make your clients aware of these potential sources.
| Apr 10, 2013
23 things you need to know about charter schools
Charter schools are growing like Topsy. But don’t jump on board unless you know what you’re getting into.
| Apr 9, 2013
FMI predicts 8% rise in construction put in place for 2013
FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking services to the engineering and construction industry released today its Q1-2013 Construction Outlook. The forecast for total construction-put-in-place for 2013 continues to show an increase of 8% over 2012 levels.
| Apr 8, 2013
Most daylight harvesting schemes fall short of performance goals, says study
Analysis of daylighting control systems in 20 office and public spaces shows that while the automatic daylighting harvesting schemes are helping to reduce lighting energy, most are not achieving optimal performance, according to a new study by the Energy Center of Wisconsin.
| Apr 6, 2013
Lord, Aeck & Sargent and Urban Collage merge
In a move that brings full-service planning expertise to its already well-established architecture practice, Lord, Aeck & Sargent (LAS) has merged with Urban Collage (UC), one of the largest urban and campus planning and design firms in the Southeast. Combining these firms’ talents was made official today. UC plans to retain its name for the foreseeable future.