News: Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron has been granted planning permission for a school of government and public policy at the University of Oxford, UK.

The £30 million Blavatnik School of Government will be built within the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, masterplanned by architect Rafael Viñoly.

Herzog & de Meuron's building will appear as stack of discs decreasing in size, unevenly aligned to create overhangs and terraces.

Inside, the building will be arranged like "an auditorium or a concert hall", say the architects, with interconnected terraces stepping up from the ground floor to the upper levels.

Lower levels will house teaching and public spaces, while the quieter upper levels will be occupied by academics and research programmes. The top level will contain a library overlooking an outdoor terrace.

The building is expected to be completed in 2015.

The school was launched in 2010 with a £75 million donation by American philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik, and offers a one-year master's degree in Public Policy with a curriculum drawn from across the university.

Herzog & de Meuron was recently chosen to design the new National Library of Israel in Jerusalem and shortlisted for a new headquarters for the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden – see all architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.

Other projects at the University of Oxford include Zaha Hadid's under-construction centre for Middle Eastern culture and Rick Mather's extension to the Ashmolean Museum, completed in 2009.

Image is copyright Herzog & de Meuron Basel.

Here's some more information from Herzog & de Meuron:

Blavatnik School of Goverment, Oxford, UK

Project 2011 - planned completion 2015

"The Blavatnik School of Government will become a global centre of excellence for the study of government and public policy. The School's aim is to teach the practice of government and leadership in ways which will strengthen communities, create opportunities and foster cooperation across the world. The School offers Oxford University a new way to contribute to the world." - Blavatnik School of Government Brochure

Such a vision requires a specific response and building. Our starting point is from the inside, from the heart of the building, the Forum. This space cuts through the school as a vertical public space connecting all the levels and programs together into one whole. Central to a school of government is the idea of openness, communication and transparency, the central forum takes this principle literally by stitching all levels together. In the first instance the Forum provides access between spaces, but more importantly it provides congregation, meeting and social spaces. In our proposal its arrangement is in many ways like that of an auditorium or a concert hall with a series of interconnected terraces that step up from the ground floor all the way to the upper levels of the School. Each terrace could operate as a separate space, for example as a study area or as part of one connected whole volume for a larger presentation. The Forum will be a space that allows and positively encourages communication and discussion, formal and informal, planned and accidental.

The Blavatnik School of Government will house teaching and academic spaces which are supported by meeting, administration, research and service areas which are all connected by the Forum. At its lower levels, the building houses large public and teaching programs. The upper levels around are occupied by academic and research programs that require a more quiet atmosphere to foster focus and concentration. Crowning the School will be the library research tower which overlooks an outdoor terrace, Library Square to the north, and the whole of Oxford beyond. The School offers a wide range of teaching-space types from small flexible seminar rooms to larger flat floor teaching rooms.

Prominently located at the southwest corner of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ) the School will be the first building pedestrians, visitors and students encounter when approaching this quarter from the south. The School has the potential to become a gateway into this new part of the University and a symbol of its development.

The immediate context is a complex situation with the adjacencies of St Paul's Church and Somerville College to both sides and the Oxford University Press across Walton Street. The concept of the Forum in the interior sets the decisive and room-defining impulse for the entire building. This circular hollow also defines the exterior appearance of the school. Its cylindrical shapes show analogies to government buildings and universities in different places all over the world.

Our proposal of a series of shifted discs, pure geometric circles, is developed from the parameters of the site and plot boundaries. The shifting in floors creates overhangs and covered volumes and reflects the principles of the masterplan massing with the mass of the building moved northwest towards the centre of the ROQ site. The main entrance is located, in a classical manner, in the middle of the Walton Street elevation, centred underneath the main teaching floor of Level 1 whose circular geometry at Library Square is transformed into a rectangular form along Walton Street, resulting in a 'Sheldonian' like shape. The introduction of this orthogonal form addresses the historic setting in a classical manner, both continuing the line of the St Paul's Church portico and echoing the symmetrical entrance of the Oxford University.

With this proposal we aim to provide a project that can act as a focal point both for the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and the academic activity of the study of government and public policy; a landmark building housing a ground breaking School.

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The Teikyo University Elementary School comprises a row of twelve connected classroom buildings that Kengo Kuma and Associates also compares to a row of terraced houses.

Like many of Kuma's buildings, the three-storey school is clad with cedar on every elevation. "We used cedar for the material of the exterior, as an attempt to recover a wooden schoolhouse in the midst of the big city," says the studio.

Conventional timber siding was chosen for some surfaces, then combined with "yamato-bari" wooden panelling and vertical "renji" louvres to give variation to each of the facades.

The asymmetric pitched roof is made from steel, which breaks down to a skeletal framework in the courtyard between two of the blocks. The slope of the roof is visible on every floor inside the school, due to a tiered flooring arrangement and several double-height spaces.

Most classrooms are arranged along the southern side of the building, which is lined with glazing on all three floors. A first-floor balcony also stretches across this elevation, allowing a double-height recess below the eaves.

A central axis runs longways through the school to connect each set of classrooms. Group study zones are accommodated within this area, while communal activity rooms such as the library, canteen and media centre are lined up along the northern side.

The school is one of several projects completed by Kengo Kuma and Associates in recent months. Others include an experimental house in Hokkaidō and a timber-clad visitor centre in Tokyo. See more architecture by Kengo Kuma on Dezeen.

Photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Here's a project description from Kengo Kuma and Associates:

Teikyo University Elementary School

We aimed at a wooden schoolhouse of our age. The building consists of a big roofing and materiality of wood for interior and exterior.

By changing its length and height of eave, roof can create multiformity to respond to its environment and different programs. In this building, we designed a big roof to run through the entire building, differentiating expressions on each side – a relaxed face toward south where abundant green of Tama hill expands – and subtle appearance to the north facing public housing standing in lines.

We also changed its form accordingly to the volume of each classroom. As the result, it has grown to a building that looks like 12 different-sectioned terraced houses being arranged in a row.

Composition of the space emphasises the atmosphere of the terraced (1-storey) house created by the roof. While the structure is 3-storey, the atrium connects the sections of the special room and the open space on 2nd and 3rd floors, so that you can feel the slope of the roof on every floor. Further, in the center of the building situates the Media Center that skips three stories as a measure to avoid segregation within the building.

We used cedar for the material of the exterior, as an attempt to recover a wooden schoolhouse in the midst of the big city. We also applied three different lining method for the wall, according to the location and function of the parts in the building – siding work, louvers and Yamato-bari (wood panels arranged with its side slightly layered onto the next one – forming as a whole regular unevenness) so that the building can hold various expressions. Cedar is treated in heat to secure durability.

We also utilised the plasticity of trees. We set up a huge wall of a recycled material made from chips of straw, rush and poplar, which can work as a notice board. As there is more freedom in the design of interior for schools, we managed to achieve this environmentally-friendly plan that can enhance the warmth of natural materials.

Big roofing is also good for environment for efficient building facilities. Using the wide roof toward the south, we installed there a device to gather heat. In this solar system, the air warmed under the roof circulates and vents from under the floor during winter. The roof also gathers rainwater. The water flows through the vertical drainpipe to the water conduit in the south, and it nurtures a biotope in front of the science room.

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by Kengo Kuma and Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Completed at the end of 2012, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS) Senior is the second building designed by McBride Charles Ryan for the school, following a boys junior school shaped like the silhouette of three overlapping houses.

For PEGS Senior, the architects devised a figure-of-eight plan with a sequence of classrooms around the edges, a library at the centre and two courtyards within the voids. This layout allows every route to lead back to the library and also creates outdoor spaces that are protected from strong winds.

"The project is based on an infinity symbol, a shape that allows the facility to be structured around two protected courtyards," explain the architects. "The building is an embodiment of the journey of education and the crossover between disciplines."

Swathes of colour streak across the walls, floors and ceilings of rooms in both wings as part of a colour strategy to help students to differentiate between each department.

Glazed ceramic tiles in bands of grey and black give the school its shimmering outer skin, while the same shades are repeated across the cladding panels of the courtyard elevations. Some details are picked out in timber, including the underside of arches and louvred window screens.

The two separate courtyards contain a mixture of grassy mounds, hard landscaping, rock gardens, trees and curvy benches.

"This variety of spaces and volumes [is] not dissimilar to a walled citadel with its gardens and ceremonial arches," add the architects.

McBride Charles Ryan completed its first building for PEGS in 2011. Other projects by the firm include Klein Bottle House, a residence with origami-like facets and folds.

See more schools on Dezeen, including a stark concrete secondary school in Portugal and a gabled extension to a boarding school in England.

Photography is by John Gollings, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here's some more information from McBride Charles Ryan:

The Infinity Centre, Keilor East

The Infinity Centre, the new campus for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School senior students, is derived from the initial idea that the library, a learning hub, is central to the school. We also wanted a building that offered protection from a windswept site and signified the merging of two schools.

Radiating out from the library, along the length of the form, are specialist precincts and a variety of learning spaces. Each wing then returns to link up, forming cloisters and the resulting plan of an infinity symbol. Being structured around two protected courtyards has enhanced the learning space's access to light, ventilation and view.

Each wing has its own qualities, different from each other and yet seamlessly connected to the next. In this way the building acts as an embodiment of the journey of education, with less distinction of any prescribed boundaries between disciplines. The colour strategy reinforces the identity of the academic disciplines, universally enhanced by the richness of natural materials, such as locally recycled timber. Planning allows the building's circulation to constantly return to the library at its heart, and in this way is physically and experientially in parallel with the educational ethos of the school.

This variety of spaces and volumes, not dissimilar to a walled citadel with its gardens and ceremonial arches, are encased within a unifying skin. The outer wall of the building is clad with glazed bricks, a material that offers protection, beauty, gravitas, and imbues the impressive form with a sense of permanence. The banded brickwork pattern aids in reading the shape of the building, adding complexity and delight as the sun catches the silver through the day.

Project team: Rob McBride, Debbie Ryan, Andrew Hayne, Drew Williamson, Qianyi Lim, Peter Ryan, Stephan Bekhor, Anthony Parker, Amelia Borg, Natasha Maben, Benedikt Josef, Alan Ting, Luke Waldron, Jacqui Robbins, Daniel Griffin, Seung Hyuk Choi, Angela Woda
Area: 8000 m2

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Senior by McBride Charles Ryan appeared first on Dezeen.

Led by Japanese architect Keiichiro Sako, SAKO Architects designed the Loop Kindergarten as a squashed circular volume where every room is curved and even the windows have rounded corners.

A total of 18 shades make up the rainbow colour palette, which graduates around the building including across the ceilings and around the windows.

The kindergarten is three storeys high with classrooms arounds its perimeter and playgrounds at its centre. These include an open-air deck on the first floor, while the ground floor contains a split-level indoor playground filled with colourful columns and tiered platforms.

Glass funnels bring light down onto the lower floor, creating three circular courtyards that can be used for different activities.

A huge arch slices through the side of the building to create a grand entrance, where symmetrical staircases lead up to the first-floor courtyard. A circular lightwell is positioned directly above, bringing a shaft of light over the heads of anyone passing through.

Artificial grass covers the looping roof to create an extra play area for the children. Four outdoor staircases lead up to it, each coloured in a different hue.

See more kindergartens on Dezeen, including one with rotating panels on the facade and one with pyramidal chimneys.

Photography is by Ruijing Photo.

Here's some more information from SAKO Architects:

This kindergarten is formed by curves. R-shaped windows with rounded corners are used to create the atmosphere of freedom and pleasant.

Each playroom on the 3rd floor faces towards to a balcony, with the staircase by which children can go up to the roof garden. Various colours are used on the walls, floors and handrails of the balconies; this is one of the main feature of this kindergarten.

Walking up to the 2nd floor through the public stairs at the main entrance there is a outdoor courtyard, with all of the classrooms facing towards it. The whole courtyard is in the visible range for most adults. This is is a wonderful space for children to play and enjoy the fresh air.

Also under the outdoor courtyard there is an indoor courtyard for multi-purpose uses. It has 3 rounded atriums connecting to the outdoor space on upper level for better natural lighting and for creating a indoor playing space for children in bad weather condition.

The ceiling on each floor is in 18 different colours, with white louver boards under the ceiling. The colour changing can been seen through the gaps between the louver boards when walking in the corridor. Also there are 18 different colour columns in the courtyard, the children can use these colours to identify the location.

Project Name: LOOP in Tianjin
Project Location: Tianjin, China
Project Type: Kindergarten

Architect/s: Keiichiro SAKO, Yoko FUJII, Jing, Junya KAZUNO/ SAKO Architects
Lighting Design: Masahide Kakudate Lighting Architect & Associates,Inc.
Client: Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited

Size: 3 stories
Gross floor area: 4,300 sqm
Design Period: 2009/06-2011/03
Construction Period: 2011/04-2012/07

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by SAKO Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Located at the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University, the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science is a six-storey building with hexagonal windows stretching across its front and rear facades.

"The cellular exterior of the building is derived from ideas about expressing the molecular research that is being undertaken within the building," explains Lyons.

Some of the hexagons are extruded from the facade, creating a series of irregularly shaped meeting spaces, while others are simple windows shaded by overhanging canopies.

Above: photograph is by Nils Koenning

The three lower floors of the building contain student laboratories and teaching rooms, which open out to small terraces and lawns. Research facilities occupy the top three floors and include administrative spaces, a conference room and a staff lounge.

Above: photograph is by Michael Evans

A continuous staircase stretches though the centre of the building, starting from a first-floor foyer. A bridge links this foyer with another university building, while more stairs lead down over a low roof to meet the ground level below.

The architects used a broad colour palette to highlight details both inside and outside the structure. Vivid blues and reds frame the hexagonal windows, while columns and banisters are coloured bright orange and the bridge features a shade of lime green.

Lyons has completed a few university buildings recently, including a bioscience facility with an X-shaped facade and a building covered in brightly coloured scales that was branded "ugly" and "menacing" by Dezeen readers. See more architecture by Lyons.

Photography is by Dianna Snape, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here's some more information from Lyons:

The La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS), La Trobe University

The La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) is a major new building on La Trobe University's Bundoora Campus, which will meet the University's long-term needs in terms of student learning and research in the science disciplines.

Lyons were appointed following a design competition sponsored by the Australian Institute of Architects. An integral part of the brief was for the project to have a 'transformative' effect in terms of the architecture and identity of the campus, which had previously been built within the strict guidelines for materials and heights.

Above: photograph is by the architects

The building is designed around the University's specific model for creating a pathway for students in science; an environment where students can develop into student researchers and ultimately into lead researchers.

Above: photograph is by Michael Evans

The lower levels of the building accommodate first to third year undergraduate learning spaces – with large open flexible labs (accommodating teaching cohorts for 160 students) connected with 'dry' learning spaces. This allows students to move between laboratory based project work, to digital and collaborative learning activities within the adjacent spaces. At ground level, these learning spaces breakout to new landscaped spaces, extending the idea of placing students at the centre of outside social and learning areas.

The upper three levels of the building are research focused and based around a highly collaborative model. All laboratories are large open flexible spaces where teams are able to work together, or expand and contract according to research funds. These large 'super labs' are located immediately adjacent to write-up spaces, allowing a very direct physical and visual connection between all research work areas.

A series of further shared spaces, including a major conference room, staff 'college' lounge and informal meeting spaces, are also located on the research levels. The design is fully integrated with the adjacent existing building, which accommodates a number of other LIMS research staff and laboratories.

The project design also responds to the unique attributes of the University's Bundoora Campus, with its elevated 'concourse' at the first level. The primary reception to the building is, in fact, located at this concourse level at a 'cross roads' of the campus circulation in a north/south direction.

A major stairway rises through the centre of the building, connecting the student and research levels – as a form of representation of the 'pathway'. The cellular exterior of the building is derived from ideas about expressing the molecular research that is being undertaken within the building, and is adjusted via the materiality of the building itself.

The walls are primarily precast concrete, with the cells providing a 'lower' and 'upper' window into the various spaces, aiding the penetration of daylight. The cellular concept also creates a framework for a number of distinctive spaces for students to occupy or for research staff to meet and collaborate.

Above: long section - click for larger image

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by Lyons appeared first on Dezeen.