Henning Larsen has been named as the designer of the new 376,700-sf campus building for Management Center Innsbruck (MCI) after a two-stage competition and dialogue process. The project is located on the edge of the Innsbruck city center.
The new building will create a unified campus for MCI for the first time in the school’s history. Bordered by the city to the south and east and by the historical Hofgarten to the north and west (and the Alps all around), the building is designed to have no back or front. Multi-story entries are carved into each facade to break the scale of the building in relation to its surroundings. These pockets are planted with gardens to match the identity of their neighbor. For example, the mountain-facing north entry features alpine flowers while the southern city-facing entry is an urban terrace.
Classrooms and lecture halls populate the outer edge of the ground level, framing a fluid interior space with a large community stair in the center that links the three levels of learning spaces and also serves as a community space itself. Learning floors are designed to be open and flexible, with nearly as much unprogrammed space for students to study, socialize, and rest as there is actual classroom space.
The building’s upper floors are divided in two sections, one containing offices for MCI faculty, administration, and students, and the other containing laboratories and research spaces. The design is dense, with four cores that serve not just as vertical circulation, but also as social hubs within the large floorplates.
Construction on the facility is expected to start in fall 2023 with move-in expected for early 2025.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Jan 19, 2018
A 360-degree classroom highlights Washington State University’s new academic innovation hub
The circle-in-the-round classroom can accommodate 275 students.
University Buildings | Jan 18, 2018
New living/learning facility at the University of Illinois at Chicago breaks ground
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) designed the facility.
Game Changers | Jan 12, 2018
‘Kit of parts’ anchors university’s remake
Sasaki designs interchangeable spaces to support a major educational shift at Mexico’s largest university system.
Education Facilities | Jan 8, 2018
Three former school buildings are repurposed to create mini-campus for teacher education
The $25.3 million project is currently under construction on the Winona State University campus.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 6, 2018
A new precision dental center embodies Columbia University’s latest direction for oral medicine education
The facility, which nests at “the core” of the university’s Medical Center, relies heavily on technology and big data.
Big Data | Jan 5, 2018
In the age of data-driven design, has POE’s time finally come?
At a time when research- and data-based methods are playing a larger role in architecture, there remains a surprisingly scant amount of post-occupancy research. But that’s starting to change.
Mixed-Use | Jan 5, 2018
USC Village is the largest development in the history of the University of Southern California
USC Village comprises six buildings and 1.25 million sf.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 4, 2018
Student housing development on Chapman University campus includes adaptive reuse of 1918 packing house
The Packing House was originally built for the Santiago Orange Growers Association.
University Buildings | Dec 20, 2017
New residence hall to house 500 students at Duke University
The project was designed by William Rawn Architects and will be built by Skanska.
University Buildings | Dec 5, 2017
UCLA’s Hedrick Study combines a library, lounge, and dining hall
Johnson Favaro designed the space.