NTNU Gjøvik

NTNU GJØVIK The new university building for NTNU Gjøvik is shaped to be an arena for knowledge and education. The project is connected to the existing educational environment at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). It provides a venue for classrooms and auditorium, open study space, a student café, a large mechanical workshop, and the administration unit on the top floor. Form The site is complex, since the different university buildings each represent the style of the time in which they were built. Therefore, to integrate the new construction well into the symposium of building styles, we designed a simple rectangular body, standing strong with its own volume. The simple shape also leaves room to facilitate the next construction which is to take place on the neighboring site in the near future. The building is popularly referred to as the emerald due to its elegant shape and expression. A statement of today Since the existing buildings speak the language of their respective times, it was only natural to make the project comment on the world of today. True to the movements of our time, the building has been granted a highly sustainable certification in the category “Plus House”. The title has been given on the background of sustainable choices from the use of local materials and suppliers to the integration of smart energy enhancing solutions. The building is mainly made from wood, and supported by a limited use of structural concrete. The use of wood spans from structure and cladding to the main interior design. The rest of the material palette appears in their most natural form. Untreated wood, in-situ cast concrete, locally made detailing in raw metal. The building shows a curiosity and awareness towards the origin and lifecycle of its components. Also, the plan solution and spatial hierarchy has its departure from current ideas of learning. Ideas which value group work and interdisciplinarity. The easiest accessible areas are the open workspaces, in which great daylight and openness has been prioritized. This way the social common areas become an opt-out and not an opt-in. Process The institution of NTNU hosts some of the country’s future engineers. Therefore, the design and development team had an ambition to make the project an educational experience for the students. As an example, the ceiling of the auditorium served for a pilot project for a team of PhD students. Normally you would manually drill holes in the badly accessible concrete slab for the acoustic ceiling, but in this project a robot was programmed by the students to do so with great precision. The exterior The theme of the building is shown outside in the same degree as on the inside. The building stands out because of its simple form but it also offers a greatly nuanced façade. The large and open glass façade on the southern side of the building offers a welcome to the students approaching from other areas of the campus. Large red curtains automatically slide up and down to regulate sunlight in the space. They provide a change of atmosphere and expression on the outside as well as on the inside. The café The café invites to informal meetings between students, employees and visitors. It is the first space you meet in the building entrance. Beams of direct light bathe the floor and walls and only filters through the few large wooden columns stretching the height of four floors. The café serves as a place to relax with a warm drink in hand with the warming sunlight in the face. The four-story tall atrium provides a spatial connection between the open study areas, and binds the programs together. The study and group areas Space for group work is highly prioritized in this project. The open study spaces are placed towards the southern façade, making it an attractive study situation at all times of the day. The spaces are directly connected to the core flow, and are therefore the first seating option for the students. Enclosed group rooms are provided, separated with dimmed glass barriers for better acoustic features. The classrooms There are five main classrooms in the building, currently providing learning arenas for students of technological subjects and data science. The classrooms are located mainly on the northern façade providing a room with calm lighting proven ideal for teaching situations. The window openings are smaller, but still provides a great view over the adjacent wood. The classrooms are separated from the common areas by a soundproof glass membrane behind the students learning, which makes the teaching arena a continuous space. The auditorium The auditorium spans over two floors height and seats 225 persons. As a part of the overall concept, slim visual openings have been provided between the auditorium and the hallway to ensure the programmatic transparency. The Workshop The workshop is the only part of the learning arena visually shielded from the other parts. The workshop is a large open space facing north. It also spans two floors height. Integrated in the area are two soundproofed classrooms, and an office for the professional mechanic in charge. The room appears simple, with bare concrete floors and walls. All technical installations of the building are completely exposed and gathered in the northeastern corner. They become decorative elements in the room that already cultivates a certain brutalist expression. Large vertical windows provide a great flow of light, and gives the spacious room an almost sacral atmosphere. The administration floor It was decided that the faculty should be provided with a new administration headquarters, hence the uppermost floor has been dedicated to office spaces. Only a few enclosed offices are provided, while an open landscape has been prioritized on the rest of the area. An atrium in the center of the floor has been dug out of the building mass, and ensures great daylight throughout the floor. General considerations The new building for NTNU Gjøvik was an extremely interesting project in many aspects. The building project was a direct continuation of the competition, which meant that the design process had to be precise and always forward-looking. The drawings were almost carried out in real-time as they were drawn. It was a great educative involvement for our studio to work together with the students and allowing new ideas to be integrated in the process and final design. Overall, the project was a great experience and a good co-operation between the different bodies meant that the great ambitions for the project were fulfilled.