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OVERVIEW
Education does not need dogma to be effective; it needs tolerance and diversity. The University of York has provided sound evidence of this fact, in structural terms at least. A joint venture between Kaplan International Colleges and the University has resulted in the Piazza Learning Centre on an outlying campus.
This is where overseas students wanting to study at the university can work together in preparation. The Centre provides space for seminars, private study, social interaction, communal meals and events. Set in an almost tree-less landscape, the crescent-shape building is positioned around an old oak. The building’s form and materials demonstrate an insouciant complexity and diversity; it is not an austere or spartan structure. Teaching rooms and cafeteria are located in the curved wings, which span out from either side of the central barrel-shaped library building to create a jagged horseshoe. This part of the construction is steel, the roof comprises visible timber beams, the intermediate floors are reinforced concrete and the façades are glass, brickwork and composite panels. Complementary materials and colours create undogmatic unity in the building interior, there are bespoke colours and lighting effects for each individual space. It is impossible to appreciate all the building’s intricacies at first glance. The façade overlooking the countryside and the motorway is clad in subtle terra Pyrite ALUCOBOND® elements, in keeping with the open landscape. But even this façade is surprisingly versatile. The main hall has a rather monolithic quality with windows in different widths punctuating its façade. ALUCOBOND® elements, which act as solar protection on the building’s wings, are set at a distance in front of the glass façade. Particularly when lights are on at night, they reveal a combination of different structural elements, which create a powerful entity by means of diversity.
Project: Piazza Learning Centre – University of York, Heslington | UK
Architects: Race Cottam Associates Ltd, Sheffield & Interserve Construction Ltd, Reading | UK
Fabricator: AKV Architectural Facades Ltd, Shildon | UK
Installer: Chemplas Ltd, Newcastle | UK
Façade System: Tray Panels on bolts
Year of Construction: 2017
Product: ALUCOBOND® PLUS terra Pyrite
Photos: John Kees Photography
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