Parallel assignment / Ideas competition
2021
Client: SIT
In the autumn of 2021, Resell+Nicca was pre-qualified to participate in a parallel assignment involving the development of ideas for a student housing and operations center project in Gjøvik, Norway. The project will constitute a visual fund motif for Campus Gjøvik and mark the start of the axis running through the university area.
On the front part of the site the program is divided into smaller volumes - creating a relationship with the adjacent houses in terms of scale and intermediate cross-connections - while the volume on the rear part of the site relates to the height of the commercial building further east.
The project is organized with a distinct differentiation between front and back, where the student housing and the personnel areas of the operations center are facing Campus, while the operations center's logistical areas are facing the road in the south. This distribution of the program creates an active, intimate and pedestrian-friendly street between the two parts of the site, while providing the operations center with plenty of safety-satisfactory space at the back.
The planned "green ring" surrounding Campus is allowed to run along the northern part of the site (where roof gardens are established and existing trees / green slopes preserved), while the south-facing facade of the tall building is designed as an outdoor space for the recidents, and is given an energy-producing facade that will serve as a visual marker of a future-oriented and sustainable Campus.
It was an important and clearly stated goal for the developer to establish as many dormitory units as possible within the limits of the zoning plan. By establishing buildings with varied forms of housing on both parts of the site, Ryggrad establishes significantly more units than the other proposals in the parallel assignment (147 versus 62, 70 and 100). On the front part of the site, the green slope, the spaces between the houses and the varied character of the houses create an intimate and lush residential area. At the top of the operations center, a more dramatic living environment is created - with airy patios and dramatic views.
The projects would be built with a combination of wooden structures and facades of reused bricks. The use of bricks has a strong historical anchoring in Gjøvik and in the surrounding area; at a time there were about 25 different brickworks in towns around the lake of Mjøsa, all producing bricks for the construction of Gjøvik, Lillehammer and Hamar. We want to continue the local brick tradition in a new and sustainable way. Reused bricks are bricks that have previously been used on other houses, and they are installed with an acceptance for some mortar residues, which simplifies the reuse process and creates a varied and slightly rustic look. On the houses in front the brick is combined with a wooden framework. The divisions of the framework establishes defined areas for different types of brick, and simplifies the work of the mason by allowing hidden voids. Reused bricks is an environmentally friendly facade material that does not create new emissions related to production.