Felipe Fontecilla, Philippe Blanc C, Marcos Mendizábal.

OBJECTIVE

The great challenge for the project was to respect the old building being, at the same time, strong enough to establish a productive dialog between the old and the new. We identified material and dimensional sympathy as the main criteria to structure the project. Thus, we decided to use the same materials of the old building -brick and concrete- although in a different way. We had discovered that the preexisting building was ruled by a very strict modular grid. Hence, we decided to use it in the new one, attempting to establish a dimensional integration between both.
Thanks to a significant structural effort, we were able to make totally transparent the façade building’s ground floor, keeping the preexisting continuity of the old patio and the public space. The 6 meters tall brick lattice wanted to provide a neutral ceramic enclosure, avoiding the polarity of wall and window, and allowing a certain transparency which made visible the extension activities from the public space, especially at night time.
In the covered patio, an autonomous steel structure seeks to provide a tempered environment both in light and temperature terms. Around one third of the available roof is opened to allow sun and light to enter the patio. The folded ceiling made of perforated metal sheets, contains the climatization ducts and acts as a multiple screen device which at the same time filter and reflects light.
The façade and the covered patio are interconnected in a way that allows them to work independently or together.

CONTEXT

Orient Campus building was originally a school and convent, built in the years 1930s, owned by the university since 1971. It has turned a much-appreciated academic environment by students and academics. It was built in brick and concrete in a neo-Romanesque style. Currently is considered a protected building by the municipality. The project was so ambitious, that was impossible to completed it.
The commissioned campus transformation asked for a general plan, done by the authors of this project. The university’s brief asked to enlarge the existing building, providing contemporary spaces for new extension activities. At the same time, wanted to respect the traces of the old project, inserting carefully the new building into the old one. In fact, the project makes use of the location of one unbuilt original pavilion and therefore can be read as an effort to complete the original project in contemporary terms.
The project consists of two different, but coordinated parts: the façade building, which complete the original façade and encloses the old patio and the covered patio, a multipurpose space for exhibitions and performances, including an underground room. An auditorium, a cafeteria and classrooms are located in the façade building. This has also the responsibility to provide a new public façade for the campus, making visible the new public activities to the neighborhood. Even the view from above had to be considered given presence of tall residential buildings in the campus surroundings.