Católica University – North Campus

Description

The strategy of this project accepts as a starting point the reference areas and the essential distribution of the competition program. Based on this, the intention was to propose the following principles:

Although care is taken to establish levels of connection between the various buildings and programs, an attempt is made to generate a variable set of solutions through the fragmentation of volume in several autonomous but interdependent blocks. In this way, it seeks to mitigate the perception of large scale that some of the proposed volumes could easily convey, creating in several cases their fragmentation into smaller scale bodies. In this way, the proposal intends to contribute to a more balanced connection with its surroundings and a more loving relationship with the human being. This option also aims to offer those who use this place to work or study, or those who live in the area or are simply passing through, a richer spectrum of sensory stimuli within a logic of construction and coexistence in symbiosis between city and campus.

Despite this idea of fragmentation, the proposed volumes are fully united through their basement and also through an outdoor covered path that creates connection points between the building and the outdoor spaces for the enjoyment of campus users, providing the experience of a more human scale.

The volumes dedicated to Academic Spaces are positioned to the north and west, where the highest volume establishes a close-scale relationship with the housing blocks to the north and the lower volume closes the campus to the west, protecting the core of the lot of dominant northwest winds. On the other hand, the Rectory’s volume is located to the south, next to Avenida Lusíada, where it occupies a prominent place in relation to the surroundings, the south campus and within the north campus itself, which confines the eastern side of its outer space. The multipurpose volume is located to the east, in a prominent position to Avenida dos Combatentes, becoming an iconic presence of reference in the city, which will be associated with this new dimension of the university.

The positioning of the built volumetry also aims, or above all, to promote the creation of a central square for meeting and gathering academic life, on its southern front, with adequate solar orientation, overlooking the existing campus. Through the use of roof gardens, a spacious and fresh ground floor space, integrating water and afforestation that comes into contact with the surrounding public space, the intention is to give the intervention a comfortable atmosphere, rich in contact with nature, with the diversity of seasons and aromas, aspects that are rare in Avenida Lusíada and its surroundings. The afforestation of the perimeter establishes continuity with the municipal ecological structure and defines a filter that protects from the noisy exterior and promotes the enjoyment of a pleasant and sheltered interior.