Jean-Pierre Lott Architecte has delivered Le Studium, the new University library, learning centre and the University of Strasbourg Press in Strasbourg, France.
The site
The Studium project grew out of the University of Strasbourg’s need to equip itself with a building incorporating a library, student union building, and learning centre. More than just a library, it is a place, designed to foster sociability and sharing.
The building’s spaces also meet the expectations for current ways of working. Users require both formal and informal spaces. In addition to traditional reading rooms, they expect modular rooms with easy to move furniture as well as rooms dedicated to working in groups where silence is not required.
A signature building for the campus
Le Studium is situated at the interface between the historic centre and the Campus de l’Esplanade, marking the entrance to the campus from the city, and being the first building visitors see.
From an urban point of view, the project has two faces: a largely transparent ground floor, inviting passers-by to enter the facility, resting atop which is the main body of the building, with its “sinuous forms expressing lightness and movement,” said the architects. Beyond this, the composition fulfils the requirements of the brief with regard to the spaces that comprise it. The transparent podium overlooking the public space offers a view of the ground floor, the lobby, the Student Union and the cafeteria. The rooms on the upper floors are symbolised by the curves, where much attention is paid to “details of comfort and fluidity.”
The architecture of the facade flows from the work on light control. The cantilevered floor blocks direct sunlight: large ‘brise-soleils’ protect the glazed bays and filter natural light. Their orientation is based on course of the sun in order to ensure that each space is protected from direct sunlight, while guaranteeing the required amount of natural light and views overlooking the city. The great ‘kinetic veils’ give the project its constantly changing forms throughout the day.