WAN AWARDS 13 Sustainable Building of the Year

UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Umeå Architecture School, completed in 2010, has a unique location by Umeå River in the northern part of Sweden – only a few kilometers from the Arctic Circle. The harsh climate called for innovative construction solu-tions in order to create a sustainable educational building. The design chal-lenge was to create a building that matches the idea of an architectural ed-ucation, and provide an inspiring space which will develop to become a la-boratory of architecture.

Local sustainable and maintenance-free materials were utilised together with innovative construction solutions. The exterior lamella façade is built of larch wood while the interior contains local birch. The floor is industrial and robust, clad in locally produced concrete and - together with the extensive use of wood - ensures that the building is primarily composed of maintance-free surfaces, giving the school a natural patina over time.
Energy calculations and daylight simulations inspired the façade, which is composed of glass apertures, as opposed to a fully glazed solution. This decision is a key parameter in the institution’s achievement of a 50% energy reduction, met solely by means of energy-reducing and optimising measures.

Ventilation, lighting and heating functions are wholly integrated into the building’s load-bearing structure. Through this system, air enters beneath the floor plane and rises to the roof plane via the white bearing columns and beams. Here, air is circulated throughout the building inside perforated pipes, avoiding the need for a large ventilation system and its additional associated materials.

The new Umeå School of Architecture is spatially advanced with its complex cubic shapes. Through its vertical spatial connections, the building offers a unique opportunity to influence the students’ ability to understand, develop and work with spatial complexity. With the many open spaces visually melding into one open space, the goal has been to create a building that inspires and provokes students, and becomes an integral part of their architectural education.

Initially singled out as a great accomplishment in terms of interior space design and cohesion with the exterior, van Zeijl noted: “It’s an intelligent design; you can really see how the building is put together. It’s really a beautiful space without compromising the sustainability of the project.” The simple design solutions, such as geographical positioning, that played a big part in making the building as efficient as it could be, were considered great alternatives to some of the often selected high-tech solutions.