Renewal Koning Willem I College

The new Entrancebuilding for the Koning Willem I College in 's-Hertogenbosch (NL) is a progressive 5-storey educational building (5,000m2) with a completely wooden main supporting structure. A conscious and responsible building that tries to set an example for new generations of students. A cutting-edge design that shows the possibilities of circular material use, with maximum flexibility and adaptability, a building to learn in and to learn from. All-wood load-bearing structure Diagonal beams providing stability are placed in the facade, making freely divisible floors possible. Around 700 cubic meters of wood has been processed in the building (which is equivalent to a CO2 storage of 435 tons), partly locally harvested, the wood used in the exterior, grows back in 20 minutes in the Dutch forests of the State Forest Management. Despite the relatively light wooden construction, there is sufficient mass in the building by combining it with concrete hollow-core slabs. This limits sound transmission and introduces mass for accumulating capacities. Due to extensive engineering and prefabrication, the main construction was realized in just 3 months. Adaptable to educational needs Every year the layout of educational space is transformed drastically by the client. The wish for a flexible building was therefor strong. But how do you ensure quality in a building that is subject to so much change? Proposing the load-bearing structure in wood not only makes the sustainability ambitions visible, but ensures a robust structure that gives an always present basic quality to the flexible interior. The floorplans can be planned within a strong modularity of 2m zones with standardized elements that are interchangeable and an installation that follows this modularity. The interior is designed to maintain value of material and the ability to retain this value throughout its lifecycle. Conscious and integrated products and materials with a circular approach limit waste during the building phase and reuse of elements during users phase. A building to learn from The building was designed not only as an educational building, but also as a building that “educates” and inspires the people using it. A legible building to communicate, participate, enthuse, inspire, captivate and motivate students for sustainable design, conscious material and energy-use. The zoned technical installation has been extensively designed, with all ducting in sight. The technical area (which is normally placed as a closed box on the roof) has been placed in the entrance hall with a large glass front. The performance of the solar panels and other installations can be read out on screens. Various closed walls are provided with 1:1 architectural drawings, so everyone can imagine what happens behind. The building shows what you can do with materials, how it is built, how things are put together. In addition QR codes are placed on building and installation parts to obtain additional educational information. From the outside, the stairs, structure, spaces and the movement of people, show the new entrance building as an exciting, vibrant environment, where students receive the best technology education possible, every day.