KUL CAMPUS BRUGES ABSCIS ARCHITECTEN

THE PERPETUATION OF THE COOPERATION BETWEEN KU LEUVEN (CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF LOUVAIN) AND VIVES COLLEGE UNIVERSITY HAS BECOME A FACT WITH THE REALISATION OF THE KU LEUVEN CAMPUS IN BRUGES. THE BUILDING CONSISTS OF TWO SUPERIMPOSED, CLOSED VOLUMES, SEPARATED BY A TRANSPARENT ‘PUBLIC LAYER’. THE PLINTH CONTAINS LABORATORY CLUSTERS AND CLASSROOMS IN THREE STOREYS. A COMPACT VOLUME OF ALSO 3 STOREYS WITH CLUSTERED CLASSROOMS AND OFFICES ‘FLOATS’ ABOVE THAT. THE PUBLIC LAYER IS SITUATED BETWEEN THESE TWO VOLUMES: A TRANSPARENT STOREY WITH THE MOST PUBLIC FUNCTIONS: THE CAFETERIA WITH A TERRACE, THE AUDITORIUM AND SPACE FOR THE STUDENTS TO TAKE A BREAK. THE PUBLIC LAYER FUNCTIONS AS A RAISED PUBLIC GROUND LEVEL WITH A VIEW OF THE RAILWAY. THE VISIBILITY OF THE PUBLIC LEVEL, DUE TO THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE FAÇADE AND THE ACCENT THAT THE CANTILEVER OF THE VOLUME ABOVE IT CAUSES, CONTRIBUTES TO THE INTUITIVE ORIENTATION THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING.