© 2022 Stevens Van Dijck
Design: Flinder | Web development: Kroes Media
Assignments are accepted and performed in accordance with the general terms and conditions of The New Arrangement 2011 revised version 2013.
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A new education center has been built on the Uithof campus of Utrecht University: the Victor J. Koningsberger Building. The building serves the faculties of Science, Geosciences and Medicine (Biomedical Sciences). The total project covers 15,000 m² GFA and was designed and built within 2.5 years. To minimize construction time, the building has a high degree of prefabrication. The laboratory floors are custom made pre-stressed ribcassette floors with integrated systems and concrete core activation. The move-in and completion were carried out in parallel, and the outdoor space was also fully furnished during that period. The result is a highly energy-efficient building with abundant daylight and beautiful wide views of the many green spaces in the Utrecht Science Park. Stevens Van Dijck provided management services on behalf of Utrecht University.
Together with the Minnaert Building and Buys Ballot Building, the transparent building forms the education cluster in the northwest corner of the Uithof campus. There are 17 lab rooms, 5 computer rooms for self-study, 300 study seats, 3 lecture halls and catering facilities in the building. There is also storage for 1,650 bicycles under the lecture halls. The impressive atrium allows users of these different functions to meet constantly. When all the lecture halls, consultation rooms, study and lab spaces are fully occupied, there will be about 1,400 students in the building.
The building is named after Victor Jacob Koningsberger (1895-1966), biologist and later Rector Magnificus and one of the most outstanding professors at Utrecht University from the mid-20th century. It provides an inspiring learning and working environment for students and faculty from the Faculties of Science, Medicine and Geosciences. The central themes in the design are sustainability, flexibility and transparency.
The building’s facades are maximally transparent throughout, with great attention paid to finding the right balance between views, light and heat penetration, orientation and energy management from a sustainability perspective. In this the slats on the facade, varying in depth, distance and number for each facade plane, play a leading role.
For heat and cooling, concrete archiving and supply and removal of heat through the structure were used. This requires an integrated approach to design. All installations, including lab technology are built into the floor package. All partners worked together integrally within this project in a virtual three-dimensional building model. Working in BIM/Revit allowed better and more detailed integration of design and engineering. All layers of the building model can thus be seen in advance, giving maximum insight into the spatial qualities and technical challenges. BIM allowed the design team to come up with innovative solutions, such as the integrated floor and the ability to more easily change the lab rooms in the future. Together with other measures such as solar panels and thoughtful use of materials, the (laboratory) building ultimately qualifies for BREEAM “very good” certification.
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© 2022 Stevens Van Dijck
Design: Flinder | Web development: Kroes Media
Assignments are accepted and performed in accordance with the general terms and conditions of The New Arrangement 2011 revised version 2013.
