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Constructalia

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Education escorts us throughout our entire lives – as do the buildings in which we acquire our knowledge and skills. We recollect their architecture, interior design, pieces of furniture, and even their smells. Some have impressed us more than others, but none of them have left us indifferent. In our memories, these buildings are profoundly connected to our experiences and emotions, including the people we connected with there.

Over the last few decades, education has evolved and so have the requirements for educational buildings. Architectural design has significantly increased in importance, technology has conquered interior design, and user comfort is a key concern, all of which are important factors accompanying the learning experience. Architecturally attractive buildings not only express the prestige and status of institutions but contribute to a sense of wellbeing for their users.

We invite you to explore a sampling of our Constructalia case studies about educational buildings in which steel plays an important role. Be it in their structural systems, facades, or roofing, find out how steel contributes to the aesthetics, functionality, and safety of these buildings whilst keeping cost and sustainability concerns in mind.

Experimental construction at the service of science

Seemingly floating over the ground with its gentle slopes and internal patios, the educational experience at the Rolex Learning Center on the campus of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland must be one of a kind. Who wouldn't like to discover its innovative learning labs, libraries, and student mingling spaces? While we cannot take you there, our case study can offer you a glimpse.

It takes a village…

At Vista College, formerly known as Arcus College, hundreds of students receive vocational education at different levels, preparing them for the ever-changing professional world. At its campus in Herleen in the Netherlands, six steel-clad, organic shaped buildings are connected on their ground floors below street level and arranged around two patios, resulting in an environment that encourages openness, flexibility, and exchange.

Ecological intelligence transformed into a building

Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Science, now called Aeres Hogeschool, focusses on research and teaching in the fields of agriculture and ecology. With a durable steel facade, its university building in Wageningen in the Netherlands was also featured as Constructalia case study a few years back. Learn about its 'ecologically intelligent' design that was conceived in close cooperation with its future users.

An all-in-one primary education project

Wouldn’t you like to acquire skills and knowledge at a school that combines education, handicrafts, and leisure activities? Read how this is achieved at Pôle Molière in Le Havre, France where former stables now function as a part of a modern multipurpose school project, partly clad with weathering steel.

Secondary education with a sustainability focus

Find out more about Gallieni High School and its workshops in Toulouse, France that offer a fine example of steel architecture, in an industrial philosophy, designed in accordance with an environmental approach. In this project, like in many others, steel allows for a high degree of prefabrication, offers wide spans for flexible spaces, and optimises user comfort while saving materials and cost.

Just plane lightness

A more specific form of education takes place at Air Vergiate Flying School in Sesto Calende on Lake Maggiore in Italy where, thanks to their lightness, beams with large web openings brought life back to a sacred place of Italian civil aviation. See where future pilots learn to fly planes in this renovation project case study.

Text:
Constructalia

Images:
© EPFL | Alain Herzog
© Dirk Verwoerd for ArcelorMittal
© Little Planet
© ACAUM - Atelier BETTINGER DESPLANQUES Architectes associés & Paul Kozlowski
© ArcelorMittal
© Andrea Raffin for ArcelorMittal

Related link(s)

On 21 June 2022, IndustrieBau will host a technical webinar, 'Industrial facades - design, planning, maintenance, and legal regulations,' where ArcelorMittal Europe will present the latest innovations in steel for facades of industrial and logistics buildings.

When? Tuesday 21 June 2022 from 13.15 - 15.45 CET

Where? At your office or home office via Zoom

Topics will include:

•    Specifications and avoidable errors in the execution and maintenance of industrial facades
•    Building law and technical requirements
•    Steel for innovative facade solutions

Steel for innovative facade solutions

ArcelorMittal's contribution will outline challenges and expectations in terms of corrosion resistance, durability, and sustainability. This will include requirements, norms, and regulations with a specific focus on fire and thermal performance as well as specific cases of renovation.

The session will include a live Q&A.

Registration

For registered Constructalia users, participation in this IndustrieBau seminar is free of charge!

Click on the below link to register with/log in to Constructalia to access your invitation code.

With this code, you can register for the webinar as a guest on the IndustrieBau website.

Related link(s)

Webinar: Steel for innovative facade solutions - information + registration (in German)

Webinar 21 June in German: Steel for innovative facade solutions