Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has been awarded first prize in the competition to design the Student Center and Library for the Wenzhou-Kean University in Wenzhou, China. Set on 500 acres of land in a rural mountainous region, the 25,000 square meter project will provide learning and living space for 8,500 students.
Wenzhou-Kean University is cooperatively run by Wenzhou University, in China, and Kean University, in New Jersey, USA, and aims to merge Chinese and American teaching methodologies. Thus, the new Student Center and Library is focused on embracing diversity, interaction, and the sharing of knowledge.
Located in the heart of the university, the new building will connect the educational facilities in the south and student residences in the north.
At the ground and first level, the building will house a student activity center designed as a central marketplace, which will feature a café, theater, dance and music studios, exhibition space, sport and games areas, and spaces for informal gathering. The third to ninth floors of the building will be occupied by the library and study spaces, which are organized around a central book stack. The book stack culminates in a large reading room on the top level.
The exterior of the building is inspired by Wenzhou’s mountainous terrain and local bamboo constructions, and is thus wrapped in a semi-transparent glass covered in an abstract fritted pattern.
Architects
Location
Wenzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaArea
25000.0 sqmPhotographs
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
News via Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.
