Example of new construction model. Makers' KUbe by BIG
22/04/2024.
[Kansas] USA
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
The University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design wants to set an example of new construction models by commissioning BIG, with executive architect BNIM, a new mass timber building for learning and collaboration, titled the “Makers’ KUbe.”
Along with housing studio space, the KUbe will also serve as a teaching tool, showcasing sustainable practices through its mass timber diagrid design, developing through collaboration with the school’s students, faculty and board.
Along with housing studio space, the KUbe will also serve as a teaching tool, showcasing sustainable practices through its mass timber diagrid design, developing through collaboration with the school’s students, faculty and board.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by Kilograph.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by Kilograph.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by BIG.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by Kilograph.
Model. Makers' KUbe by BIG. Photograph by BIG
Model. Makers' KUbe by BIG. Photograph by BIG
Model. Makers' KUbe by BIG. Photograph by BIG
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Diagramme. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Details of joints and unions. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Details of joints and unions. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Full-scale mock-up by StructureCraft. Photograph by Graham Handford.
Details by StructureCraft. Photograph by Graham Handford.
Designed by BIG in direct response to the needs and wishes of the school’s 1,300+ students, faculty and board since 2022, the proposal for the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design consolidates all architecture and design programs into three interconnected buildings, tying together the existing Marvin Hall from 1908, Chalmers Hall from 1978 and the new six-story Makers’ KUbe.
The adjacent Marvin Hall’s stone façade and beloved spaces will be historically preserved while Chalmers Hall will be renovated to bring in more daylight. The campus seeks to embody four primary principles: to become an emblem of creativity; to create a connected campus hub; to be innovative and future-proof; and to showcase environmental stewardship.
The Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure. The KUbe’s distinct timber diagrid frame - engineered by structural engineer StructureCraft - is optimized to reduce material and curtail carbon-intensive concrete. Inspired by traditional Japanese joinery techniques, the building’s structure uses tight-fit dowels and notched glulam – or glue-laminated timber – to create an all-wood structure with columns and beams that run diagonally, without steel plates or fasteners.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by Kilograph.
The stripped façade - a timber structure enclosed in glass - foregoes cladding and finishing, exposing the KUbe’s MEP systems and further proving the building’s ability to remain minimal and efficient, only using what is necessary. The mix of transparent and opaque insulated glass on the exterior showcases the school’s creativity to the entire University of Kansas campus while creating moments of privacy and reducing glare. The building’s enclosure includes natural fibre thermal insulation in the form of biodegradable hemp wool, which is exposed within the facade’s shadow boxes for improved thermal performance.
The KUbe’s massing is rotated to align with Wescoe Drive and the surrounding buildings to allow for more light and air to be brought into the existing buildings. Winter garden bridges located on the KUbe’s second floor connect it to Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall, providing easy circulation between buildings in the colder months and enhancing interactions among students and faculty. The KUbe’s ground-level corners are angled inward, creating inviting canopied entrances that connect the building to the surrounding open spaces, while the upper-level corners are set back to allow for accessible terraces open to the sky, providing generous views of the campus and the city.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Photograph by BIG.The adjacent Marvin Hall’s stone façade and beloved spaces will be historically preserved while Chalmers Hall will be renovated to bring in more daylight. The campus seeks to embody four primary principles: to become an emblem of creativity; to create a connected campus hub; to be innovative and future-proof; and to showcase environmental stewardship.
The Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure. The KUbe’s distinct timber diagrid frame - engineered by structural engineer StructureCraft - is optimized to reduce material and curtail carbon-intensive concrete. Inspired by traditional Japanese joinery techniques, the building’s structure uses tight-fit dowels and notched glulam – or glue-laminated timber – to create an all-wood structure with columns and beams that run diagonally, without steel plates or fasteners.
Makers' KUbe by BIG. Rendering by Kilograph.
The stripped façade - a timber structure enclosed in glass - foregoes cladding and finishing, exposing the KUbe’s MEP systems and further proving the building’s ability to remain minimal and efficient, only using what is necessary. The mix of transparent and opaque insulated glass on the exterior showcases the school’s creativity to the entire University of Kansas campus while creating moments of privacy and reducing glare. The building’s enclosure includes natural fibre thermal insulation in the form of biodegradable hemp wool, which is exposed within the facade’s shadow boxes for improved thermal performance.
The KUbe’s massing is rotated to align with Wescoe Drive and the surrounding buildings to allow for more light and air to be brought into the existing buildings. Winter garden bridges located on the KUbe’s second floor connect it to Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall, providing easy circulation between buildings in the colder months and enhancing interactions among students and faculty. The KUbe’s ground-level corners are angled inward, creating inviting canopied entrances that connect the building to the surrounding open spaces, while the upper-level corners are set back to allow for accessible terraces open to the sky, providing generous views of the campus and the city.
“Our design for the consolidated design studios at KU seeks to deploy all aspects of the profession in three distinct interventions: preservation, adaptation and new construction. The Makers' KUbe is conceived as a showcase in timber tectonics, traditional joinery, robotic manufacturing and sustainable materials. The timber bones of the building are exposed by stripping away all applied finishes - elevating the structure to expression. A single staircase doubling as convenience stairs above and fire stairs within ties all student spaces together from the park to the attic.
The building serves as a living curriculum, revealing all function, technology and structure as tangible elements for the students to appreciate and critique - learning solidified into built form.”
The building serves as a living curriculum, revealing all function, technology and structure as tangible elements for the students to appreciate and critique - learning solidified into built form.”
Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG
Details of joints and unions. Makers' KUbe by BIG.
Details by StructureCraft. Photograph by Graham Handford.
The Makers’ KUbe is a hub for innovation and a resource for students. The building’s light-filled, six-story open plan creates a layered and flexible studio, fostering collaboration between students. The KUbe contains open studio space, 3D-printing and robotic labs, as well as a cafe on the ground level, all organized around a central core. The floorplates are cut to allow for a continuous sequence of single and double-height spaces and can be partitioned to create a more typical classroom experience. A fire-resistant egress feature staircase spirals up the building, encouraging spontaneous moments of creative interaction and maximizing available floor space. All interior materials are recyclable.
Embodying the university’s values, the proposed campus for the school preserves and adapts existing spaces while utilizing timber to minimize its carbon footprint. The Makers’ KUbe and Chalmers Hall feature rooftops with photovoltaic panels to harvest energy for the buildings. Any rainwater accumulated on the KUbe’s roof is stored and used for irrigating the site’s landscaping, which features native species that further reduce water needs.
BIG has completed higher education projects including UMass Amherst’s Isenberg Innovation Hub, with Johns Hopkins University’s mass timber Student Center currently under construction and Claremont McKenna College’s Robert Day Sciences Center opening in 2025.
More information
Architects
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group. Partners-in-Charge.- Bjarke Ingels, Thomas.
Christoffersen, Leon Rost.
Project Manager.- Yu Inamoto.
Design Lead.- Alana Goldweit.
Project Architect.- Dominyka Voelkle.
Christoffersen, Leon Rost.
Project Manager.- Yu Inamoto.
Design Lead.- Alana Goldweit.
Project Architect.- Dominyka Voelkle.
Project team
Daniela Morin, Dylan Hames, Ema Bakalova, Hudson Parris, Isela Liu, Margaret Tyrpa, Megan Octaviani, Nele Herrmann, Paola Bokobsa, Praveen Lalitha Kishorekumar, Tara Abedinitafreshi, Thomas Guerra, Will Chuanrui Yu, Youjin Rhee.
Collaborators
BNIM, StructureCraft, Walter P Moore, Cumming Group, JE Dunn Construction, Smith & Boucher, Forza Consultants, SK Design Group, Rosin Preservation, Kilograph.
Client
Area
16,598 m².(178,663 sq ft.).
Dates
April, 2024.
Location
Kansas, United States.
Rendering
Kilograph.
BJARKE INGELS
Bjarke Ingels (born in Copenhagen, 1974) studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen and at the School of Architecture of Barcelona, obtaining his degree as an architect in 1998. He is the founder of the BIG architecture studio - (Bjarke Ingels Group), studio founded in 2005, after co-founding PLOT Architects in 2001 with his former partner Julien de Smedt, whom he met while working at the prestigious OMA studio in Rotterdam.
Bjarke has designed and completed award-winning buildings worldwide, and currently his studio is based with venues in Copenhagen and New York. His projects include The Mountain, a residential complex in Copenhagen, and the innovative Danish Maritime Museum in Elsinore.
With the PLOT study, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2004, and with BIG he has received numerous awards such as the ULI Award for Excellence in 2009. Other prizes are the Culture Prize of the Crown Prince of Denmark in 2011; and Along with his architectural practice, Bjarke has taught at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University and Rice University and is an honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.
In 2018, Bjarke received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog granted by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. He is a frequent public speaker and continues to give lectures at places such as TED, WIRED, AMCHAM, 10 Downing Street or the World Economic Forum. In 2018, Bjarke was appointed Chief Architectural Advisor by WeWork to advise and develop the design vision and language of the company for buildings, campuses and neighborhoods around the world.
