Europan Norway

This project has a clear and flexible strategy, a programmatic approach that builds on existing features in the area, adding some simple attractions.The main focus of the project is the building proposal. Although the urban strategy may be ‘loose’ and could be better developed, it holds many ideas and promises. The main idea is to extend the public realm into the building by opening up the ground floor, allowing the public through the building right up to the roof deck. The motto “MySpace” refers to a nifty solution for the front elevations of each individual room, where the occupant can display an electronic identity. The organisation of the building is sober, efficient and purposeful, and communicated in a rich and detailed presentation, covering everything from environmental strategies to façade details.

This proposal presents quite a compelling solution for the student residence; the idea is based on the continuation of the public realm inside the building, throughout and in between the private student rooms, ending in a public roof deck. The resulting spatial and programmatic organization looks convincing and exciting. The urban situation is kept and developed by a large on-grade crossing to connect the two sides of the road. The ground floor is underdeveloped but there is a will to establish at least a visual connection between the public street and the courtyard as shown. It seems as the team has everything under control; plans, sections and details. The brutto/netto factor in the building seems tight, and the project has a sober minded attitude.

The urban proposal is laid out in a blue pedestrian and sports track that criss-crosses the area from the Campus to the river, crossing the gate as a speed bump. It connects new and existing sports facilities and other public functions in an attempt to break down the conventional zoning of urban areas. The blue track also extends into the student housing, connecting a number of different room types with varying degrees of shared living. The building proposal is still diagrammatic, but the jury found the concept for an urban design invigorating. Although very criticized by some of the jury members, this entry still delivers a strong urban concept which goes beyond the blue axis. The project proposes a new set of interconnected public spaces with very specific uses and programs that relate to the existing in an effortless way, reinforcing and invigorating NTNU as a vibrant Campus. Opposite to” My Space”, the student housing building looks very diagrammatic; the idea of the blue track rising up inside the structure doesn’t produce any meaningful space, and there is no articulation in the way the student rooms are laid out and organized on the upper levels.   

The urban strategy of this project is to extend the campus park, and to mix university and other urban programmes together in new built structures, sort of “hubs” that are connected in a new network, which includes a new underpass under the street. The new student housing is such a “hub”. This network is drawn into the building as an interior street that crosses the extravagant interior space of the housing block. The project is thorough, well presented, and introduces some fresh ideas that challenge the conventional relationship between public and private space. However, ideas are presented solely as a diagram. The student building is underdeveloped despite some fresh ideas.