Skills Centre, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein
Project duration: 2010 – 2011
The Allied Health Department consists of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Nutritional Science, and trains professionals reaching out to the community, stimulating physical recovery, as well as adapting to new restraints. The building was envisioned to capture these qualities and communicate it to the public.
This department, previously housed in the C.R. De Wet Building, required three skills laboratories with easily accessible storage space, a reception area, computer lab, recreational area and ablution facilities. The building was to be designed on the southern side of the C.R. de Wet building, currently housing the Allied Health Department. The new skills centre was to connect with the existing building and circulation patterns to create an integral whole, but at the same time present an assertive new building with a new public face and entrance.
The existing student passage from the C.R. de Wet Building leads to the new Skills Centre reception to create an arrival node. This node extends to connect with the existing pedestrian walkway leading from the Universitas Training Hospital and forms the public entrance. The Skills Centre echoes the C.R de Wet Building’s footprint, forming a barrier between the public flow on the southern side and a secluded courtyard on the northern side. The building communicates with passers-by through strong rhythmic elements on the southern façade. The splits in this façade allow the public to visually participate in the activities on the inside, thereby giving insight on the Allied Health Professionals. The courtyard is an extension of the skills labs, allowing the students to do practical sessions inside or outside, again being visible to passers-by.
Basic green principles were incorporated in the design process with regards to form, materials, orientation and landscaping. The northern façade is mostly transparent with an aluminium frame and glass infill panel, directly adjacent to the circulation area. Sufficient ventilation is provided by nine double doors. Vegetation plays an important role in passive climate control: the three mature, deciduous Celtisafricana trees in the courtyard provide a screen against sunlight in summer and allow for an accumulation of heat in winter. The three-storey height of the C.R. de Wet Building also provides shade. The western facade is also served by passive climate control, where a solid concrete wall blocks out the unforgiving setting sun in the Free State summer. The first floor, which is more exposed, was provided with steel louvers on the north-facing windows to prevent heat build up.
Conversation with the context:
The brief was to create a skills centre for the school of Allied health situated in the existing CR de Wet Building on Campus. The allied health professionals being the occupational therapists, physiotherapists and dietitians are members of a profession which reach out in the community and stimulate physical recovery as well as being able to adapt to new restraints. The building was envisioned to capture these qualities and communicate it to the public.
The building was to be designed on the southern side of the C.R. de Wet building, currently housing the Allied Health Department. The new skills centre was to connect with the existing building and circulation patterns to create an integral whole, but at the same time present an assertive new building with a new public face and entrance. For this reason the new building needed to complete the layout of an existing building and therefore focused more on the immediate context making the new building more of an introverted building. But in the same hand the new building needed to address a communication between the everyday students as well.
The two main focus points thus:
1. To complete the existing layout –so as to contribute to the effectiveness and uniqueness of the whole CR de Wet Building
2. Pedestrian circulation – To provide a focus point for the new building and to interact with pedestrians.
Conversation with the immediate site:
After investigation we found that in the immediate site we had the existing School of Allied health to the North and an unsafe Southern edge where every kind of person could pass by the building.
The focus/ concept points addressed so as to contribute to the effectiveness and uniqueness of the whole CR de Wet Building was:- Echoing the footprint of the exiting school on the southern edge of the site to complete the existing layout, thereby creating a courtyard.
– To create a link with the existing school.
The focus/ concept points addressed so as to interact with the public/pedestrian:
– Forcing the link through the new building to connect with the existing pedestrian footpath.The existing student passage from the C.R. de Wet Building leads to the new Skills Centre reception to create an arrival node. This node extends to connect with the existing pedestrian walkway leading from the Universitas Training Hospital and forms the public entrance.
– The building communicates with passers-by through strong rhythmic elements on the southern façade. The splits in this façade allow the public to visually participate in the activities on the inside, thereby giving insight on the Allied Health Professionals.
Conversation with the end user/client:
The request from the client:
– ‘Gym’ areas specifically for the practical training sessions. These gym areas needed to from three separate training areas, but also needed to be transformed into one huge gym area. Many storerooms to accommodate all training equipment. The mass of store rooms needed were accommodated in the south and east walls leaving the northern wall visually and physically spilling out into the courtyard.
– The courtyard is where demonstrations regarding wheel chair education take place. Where specific ramps where built, as well as stairs and different floor finishes, as requested from the clients.
– To provide a transparent northern facade so as to interact with the courtyard.