Lecture Hall and Campus Kassel

The building is located centrally at the “Holländischer Platz” on the campus of Kassel University, between Moritzstrasse and Arnold-Bode-Strasse. It completes the Southern campus, while at the same time marking the entrance to the Northern campus. Towards the East, it is adjacent to the Campus Promenade, which will join the two campus areas. Together with the university restaurant to the East, the Lecture hall/campus centre forms the multifunctional core of the joint campus.

The building will have two functions: It will house teaching facilities (6 lecture halls, 8 seminar rooms) as well as offices for the Study and Teaching departments of the university administration and for Student Services. The six lecture halls will have a total of approx. 2.400 seats, with hall sizes varying between 632 and 250 seats. The compact building has a pentagonal floor plan, following the contours of the adjacent streets. The third and top floor deviates somewhat from the pentagonal outer contour to leave space for patios, allowing natural light to illuminate the third floor offices.

An atrium extends from the ground to the second floor and forms the centre of the building. It is illuminated by roof cones of full storey height. The cones occupy part of the patios. The building is accessed from several directions. The entrance paths meet in the generous lobby; the lobby area is not just a circulation area, but is also used as an event stage. The atriums allows views across all storeys, so it also helps with orientation.

The outer walls are made of reinforced concrete with external insulation and a curtain facade. Some of the glazed parts of the facade follow the contour of the rising floors in the lecture halls. The glazing is made of solar control glass and/or is protected by external shading. The ground floor and part of the first floor are recessed, providing more space for the adjacent paths and alleys. The recess on the ground floor also offers shading for the glazed surfaces. It also accommodates outdoor seating in the lounge area on the ground floor.

Services Wenzel + Wenzel: Tendering, Award of contracts, Site Supervision (partially)

Client: Land Hessen, vertreten durch das Hessische Baumanagement

Design: raumzeit Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, Berlin

Award: “Deutscher Fassadenpreis” (German facade award) for rear-ventilated facades 2015

Project data:
period of performance: 2011 – 2014
gross room volume: ca. 62,000 m³
gross floor area: ca. 11,300 m²
costs: ca. €25.4m 

Copyright:
Text, visualization © raumzeit Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, Berlin
Photos © Wenzel + Wenzel