The proposal for the completion of the Art Campus VŠVU is based on the client's request and need for an integrated complex with all the functions of modern higher education.
The aim of the proposal was to create spaces for students and school employees in a closed “campus” with controlled access near Drotárska cesta, connected to the existing school building.
| Project name | Art Campus of the College of Fine Arts |
| Typology | university, school campus, office |
| Location | Bratislava, Slovakia |
| Year | 2019 |
| Status | Competition |
| Design team | Ing.arch. Tomáš Dimun, Ing.arch. Norbert Konrád, Ing.arch. Miroslava Mišurová, Ing. Michal Bakočka |
The solution is based on the possibilities of the land, its slope and functional content. The study positions the accommodation facility on the north-eastern part of the site making it accessible through a new connection with a new connection to the existing school building in addition to the catering facility, the technology pavilion and the rector’s building. The entire complex, thanks to mutual links and connections, creates a compact within which movement and stay, whether for employees or students, is simplified. The premises of the campus unite diverse all present leisure zones, intended within the accommodation unit itself, thanks to the residential atriums and vegetation roofs. The effort to preserve the greatest possible amount of greenery has also become a priority, despite the extensive requirements for the functional volumes themselves. The existing pine forest in contact with a part of the dormitories on the northwest side is one of the most beautiful current moments for us, and that is why it is preserved and supplemented with the seating areas. We also support the natural character with the possibility of creating a free presentation space for individual departments on the southern part of the property along Drotárska cesta, with the addition of linear greenery.
We purposefully built the object of the technology pavilion in an equal position to the existing volume, thereby supporting the identity of mutual equality and interdepartmental communication. The height of the new building is fitted with a ground floor at the level of the ground floor of the existing school building, and on its south-eastern facade it is also directly connected at this level, according to the requirement for a thresholdless, interior connection of the newly created storage spaces in the original building and the technical centers of the departments. We consider the main entrance to the pavilion to be the passageway from the south side to the atrium on the ground floor of the pavilion. Pedestrian access to the building from the northern part is through a passageway leading to the northern atrium on the second floor level, while barrier-free passage over the footbridge over the service road towards the paved area near the rectory building and the catering and accommodation facility is ensured.
This height arrangement arose from the requirement to supply the technological pavilion, which is possible from the south, north and partly from the west side, as well as from the location of the hall in the stage-2 of construction. The auditorium will subsequently become the center and core of teaching processes. Thanks to its height proportions and needs, it connects the object itself and the exterior levels of the atriums. The technological pavilion has two underground floors with underground garages. The entrance is at the level of the first basement from the service road, the second underground floor is accessible via a two-lane ramp. There are a total of 166 parking units in the underground garage. Two vertical cores with staircases and elevators are used for the movement of people, running along all floors of the pavilion. The building has a square floor plan with a central atrium, laid out as two tracts with classrooms on the outer facade and internal corridors running along the inside of the building. In stage-1 , the atrium is designed as a two-level structure, the southern one on the ground floor and the northern one on the second floor with residential concrete stairs and greenery, in stage II, an auditorium and library will be built into the atrium and the atrium levels will be divided into two separate levels. The facade of the pavilion is designed in the form of rasterization, with the addition of ceiling structures and vertical load-bearing elements, filled with large-format glass surfaces.
Thanks to the use of a uniform glazed facade, the entire pavilion becomes maximally well-lit and acquires a very light and airy impression despite its large proportions. The classrooms themselves will also be separated from the corridor space by interior glass partitions with the option of darkening, or by mobile dividing elements, due to over-lighting and glare. The premises of the pavilion are designed as a variable space with an arrangement according to the specified requirements. On the ground floor of the pavilion there are two vertical communications with staircases and elevators, one separate staircase leading from the ground floor to the fourth floor, a wood processing center, a metal processing center, a modeling center, a surface treatment center, a metal casting center, and chemical and technological laboratories. On the second floor, there is a 3d and 2d printing center, an audiovisual center, a textile processing center, a screen printing center, a photo processing center, and a teaching presentation center.
The II stage is designed as the construction of an auditorium building with 800 seats in the atrium area, where the entrance to the auditorium is secured from the south side on the ground floor level of the building and on the north side from the atrium on the second floor level and continues with the construction of a floor on the ceiling of the auditorium, where there is an academic library, accessible from the corridor on the third floor. The department of art history theory, classrooms and lecture rooms are located in the peripheral part of the technology pavilion on the third floor. Above one part of the library, the design envisages the creation of a residential green roof accessible from the corridor of the fourth floor, which will accommodate the department of architectural design and the department of painting. The roof of the main building will be used to install photovoltaics and other technologies.
The catering facility is located in contact with the accommodation facility, on its southeastern part, accessible from the paved area leading to the technological pavilion and also with the rectory and administration building. The catering establishment has two above-ground floors, while the ground floor is considered to serve food, with sanitary facilities and 100 seats, and on the upper floor a partial gallery, accessible via a spiral staircase, with 50 seats. Access to the summer terrace is created from the floor, thanks to which we support direct contact with the exterior. Part of the catering facility is a kitchen with facilities. In the basement part of the building there is an underground garage for 16 cars with the main use for the rectory building.
The building of the rectory and administration, as part of the II.stage construction, is designed with one underground and four above-ground floors. The construction of the building will expand the area of the underground garage in the basement to 28 parking spaces, accessible from the road. The height of the rectory building has a ground floor at the level of the ground floor of the accommodation and catering facilities, which means a height difference of approx. 4 meters compared to the service road on its entrance paved area. The above-ground floors of the building are designed as a layout of five tracts, with a central social facility and offices around the perimeter, accessible from the corridors. The main accent of the solution is the dominant spiral staircase, which supports the formality of the interior itself, located in the corner part of the building, from which the individual floors are accessible. The location of the offices corresponds to the requirements for the location of the rectory and other functions of the administration.
The accommodation facility itself creates a contradictory character. The mass is longitudinally connected by corridors, which supports the linearity of this part of the plot, but at the same time it unfolds in a transverse direction, which creates a wide variability of emerging tightness and a more intimate environment for students‘ leisure activities. The goal was to lighten the seriousness of the educational function, which is present everywhere and clearly prevails. The accommodation facility is accessible via a paved area towards the catering facility and a ramp from the service road, which serves as a pedestrian route and partly allows cars and bicycles to be parked. The main entrance is controlled, allowing to stay in its premises for students, or students and teachers in shared areas on the ground floor and first floor of the tract. In total, there are 116 double rooms for 228 residents, four of which are barrier-free, located on the ground floor, where it is also planned to create an office for the accommodation department, a technology room and waste management. The main motif of the accommodation facility is four-storey accommodation facilities, sometimes with receding floors, arranged in a pavilion style in the corridors, three atriums with greenery and three-storey facilities with shared kitchens. The ground floor serves as a covered interior corridor passage to the individual multi-storey accommodation pavilions, kitchens, main catering facilities and relaxation zones, which are made up of a summer cinema area, social rooms and sports activities – table tennis, table football, toboggan. On the second floor of the accommodation facility, there are exterior passages with relaxation zones and the possibility of entering individual accommodation facilities, which are closed by an interior corridor. The principle of crossing with „dry feet“ is also preserved on the other floors of the accommodation facilities, which are connected by straight single-arm staircases and elevators. The roofs of the pavilions will be green residential on the lower floors, the placement of photovoltaics and other technology is being considered on the higher ones.
The thinking concept resulted mainly from the greatest possible functionality and mutual continuity of all necessary functions with the preservation or creation of a rich natural environment suitable for the pleasant and at the same time representative character of the university campus.
