How to create a university building which satisfies a wide variety of programmatic and functional requirements while still maintaining an open and informal spatial arrangement? The client initially asked for two buildings, building A and B, linked by a podium. MVRDV’s design responds by turning this solid podium, containing lecture theatres, entrance and breakout spaces and cafes and lobbies, into a glass roofed hall, a grand atrium integrated with a plaza in front. The space between the two buildings forms this grand lobby. The area becomes a space where a wide variety of student activities, related to research, education, sport, news and entertainment can take place. Projected on a screen will be the latest information on activities and presentations for students, staff and quests. The lobby also has rest areas, conference rooms, space for art exhibitions and a garden. The lobby is a space where you can experience the richness of college live and its social activities. There are some programmatic objects placed in the space with their own roof terraces surrounded by trees. One a place to eat or drink, another a place to sit down, and another a place to meet with friends over a computer.

 

The climate of Hangzhou is humid and subtropical, with very hot summers. Climate and environmental analysis is a major focus for the building’s design considerations. The building has a southward tilt allowing the slabs to self-shade and also to allow the two internal facades views of the lake. The outward facing facades of the slabs have more thermal mass and relatively small windows, allowing them to reduce heat gain from the sun. The glass internal facades are shaded by an external wooden louver system. Inside the building, the atrium and side atriums act as buffer zones and wind tunnels, with the Venturi effect bringing air through these spaces. Recycled grey water is sprayed gently over surfaces in these areas to further cool the building.