Type
education

Source
open international competition, 3rd mention

Client
Etat de Fribourg

Address/Site
Misericorde, Fribourg, Switzerland

Site area
14.190 m2

Building area
2.443 m2

Total floor area
19.140 m2

Storeys
7

Program
classrooms and auditoriums, library, university departments and institutes

Structure
reinforced concrete

Cladding
glazing, aluminiumanoxied grid

Architect
SADAR+VUGA (Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Miha Čebulj, Peter Sovinc, Rok Staudacher, Dino Mujić) & HHF architekten (Simon Hartmann, Jure Sadar, Ivana Barišić, Zdenek Liska, Mariana Santana, Jelena Vucic) & QUARTAL (Samuel Bigger)

The new building of the Faculty of Law in Fribourg is a free standing compact rectangular building, positioned at the southern edge of the site Misericorde, with an easy access to the city.

This clear position sets up the future “Campo”, with Henri tower as the central element. Campo itself is designed as a vital multifunctional surface. The new dining hall is positioned along the track and protects the Campo from the noise pollution.

Our proposal derives from the following starting points; firstly interactivity of the faculty environment/studyscape, secondly hybridization between public space and a faculty environment; faculty as a permeable institution connecting the city to the university and thirdly sustainable school environment, providing wellbeing and comfort for students, professors and visitors.

The compact building communicates to the larger urban context with its articulated grid facade which coherently wraps around the entire building and unveils different character and occurance on the floors behind it. An almost abstract aluminumanoxied grid relates the new building to the old University decorative concrete grids and acts as a neutral background of the openness of the Campo.

The Faculty of law is developed as a new school environment, as a hybrid studyscape, where students, teachers, visitors and a general public meet, interact, study, work and research. The program is stacked vertically, above and below the Campo floor. Corridors in the building are minimized by development of the main vertical circulation on the perimeter of the vast circular holes of each floor. Therefore a vertical visual connection, together with a direct relation between the floors is achieved.

Below the floor of the Campo two levels of the law library are positioned. The Campo floor is a ground floor of the building, where the public characater penetrates into the interior of the building and space fluidly surrounds three auditoriums. The first floor is the floor of classrooms, the most populated space in the building. Above it, three floors of the research offices with meeting rooms are developed.

The stacking of the circular holes of each floor results in an atrium type of space around which a vertical hall is created. This is a space for meetings, gatherings, informal events, performances and spectating, as well as for study and work. It becomes a sort of interior semi public space, where activities on each floor are evenly stimulated by visual connection through the atrium space.

The accessability and therefore the publicness of each floor is regulated by the smooth staircases on the perimeter of the holes of the atrium space.
There is a vertical promenade developed through the vertical hall of the building where the character of the everyday life in the building is demonstrated.