New look for the typical English Gothic school. School of Science and Sport Building for Brighton College by OMA
15/01/2020.
[Brighton] UK
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
Brighton is located on the south coast of England, positioned 76 kilometres (47 miles) south of London, and is well know becasuse is the prototype of gothic image of English private schools, however the Brighton college’s new building, School of Science and Sports designed by the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), the practice founded by Rem Koolhaas, is the expression of a new image for the typical English private school.
Dutch architecture studio OMA has unveiled the new Sports and Science Centre at the historic college in Brighton, an school for 11 to 18-year-olds, located alongside Brighton College's main playing field, has an exterior finished in glass-reinforced concrete and dark grey, is long, angular and machined, and merges academic and athletic facilities in one building.
Dutch architecture studio OMA has unveiled the new Sports and Science Centre at the historic college in Brighton, an school for 11 to 18-year-olds, located alongside Brighton College's main playing field, has an exterior finished in glass-reinforced concrete and dark grey, is long, angular and machined, and merges academic and athletic facilities in one building.
"Think of an English private school and you will probably think of somewhere gothic. Something like St Trinian’s, or Nigel Molesworth’s St Custard’s, whose ogees and oak made habitats for bats and spiders, whose shadowy recesses harboured aromas of boiled cabbage and sodden socks. Something, probably, much like Brighton college, in which flint walls are pierced by pointed arches that lead into enclosed spaces reminiscent of Oxbridge colleges, which open on to an expansive greensward dedicated to the inculcation of illogic and injustice through the games of rugby and cricket."
Rowan Moore. The Guardian, 11 Jan 2020. Brighton college’s Sports and Science Centre review – Hogwarts meets George Lucas
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Finlayson/Vervate
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Concept. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image Frans Parthesius
Conceptual diagrams. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Concept. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image Frans Parthesius
Conceptual diagrams. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Conceptual diagrams. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Campus level plan. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Field level plan. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
First level plan. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Second level plan. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Roof level plan. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Section D. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Section L-F. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Section C. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Section B. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Section A. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
North-South elevations. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
West elevations. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
East elevations. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Image OMA
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by OMA
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Finlayson/Vervate
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Finlayson/Vervate
Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA. Photography by Killian O’Sullivan
Campus level Axonometric. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Second level Axonometric. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Fields level Axonometric. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
First level Axonometric. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
Circulations Axonometric. Brighton College School of Science and Sports by OMA.
To see it only as a concept or shape estilistic, however, is to miss most of the intentions behind the project. The project remembers and updates concepts already experienced in initial projects by Rem Koolhaas, such as the Kunsthall, in Rotterdam. Its abstracted frame is the means to several ends, in particular the recovered concept by OMA of social condenser, the programmatic layering, to encourage dynamic coexistence of activities and to generate through their interference, unprecedented events.
About the €64.5m (£55m) project, “I wanted to keep it as low as possible,” says Ellen van Loon. “We are not too good at pitched roofs... we are champions of questioning everything” adds OMA partner in charge of the project. She has headed up OMA projects from 1998, as the 2001 Casa da Musica in Porto which helped to reverse the typology of the black-box auditorium with two walls made entirely in glass, or the dazzling library in Doha.
About the €64.5m (£55m) project, “I wanted to keep it as low as possible,” says Ellen van Loon. “We are not too good at pitched roofs... we are champions of questioning everything” adds OMA partner in charge of the project. She has headed up OMA projects from 1998, as the 2001 Casa da Musica in Porto which helped to reverse the typology of the black-box auditorium with two walls made entirely in glass, or the dazzling library in Doha.
“Architecture is so dull these days. We have not manifest any more. It’s cautious. Developers only want you to do what they already know” said Van Loon
Van Loon also brought to the project some straightforward good ideas as a high level of transparency, linking the view over the playing fields and the flat roof gave an opportunity to view the sea, and was furnishes with a running track.
The corridors and stairs are part of a pattern of movement through the building, providing the oportunity to explore its interesting interior landscape, a logic mixture of things, the sports facilities on the ground floor next to the sports field with the science labs above. In the basement there is a swimming pool and changing rooms for indoor and outdoor sports. There is also an underground carpark in the basement that is accessed by a lift.
Project description by OMA
The new School of Science and Sport for Brighton College, designed by OMA / Ellen van Loon, was inaugurated in an official ceremony by Sir Nicholas Soames on January 9 in the presence of Simon Smits, the Dutch ambassador to the UK, Headmaster Richard Cairns, and Ellen van Loon.
The School for Sports and Science defies the conventional character of educational buildings – one of endless empty hallways and imposed silence – and instead combines the two departments to create a vibrant building with lively spaces where activities are not necessarily dictated by a school timetable. Observing that processes of learning take place outside as much as inside of the classroom, the design articulates a new idea of educational space bolstering interaction and exchange.
Individual components of the building are exposed to each other: an indoor running track on the ground floor is visible from upper levels, classrooms have floor to ceiling windows, even fume hoods in the chemistry classrooms are made transparent – enabling people walking down the hallway to witness ongoing experiments.
Headmaster Richard Cairns: “My concern as an educator has always been the silo mentality of academic institutions so that subject specialists in one area don’t talk to those in another. My challenge to Ellen was to create a building where different academic disciplines were interwoven into the same building. I really wanted to be able to stand on the sports field outside and see a beehive of different activities going on, wonderfully interconnected and alive. This Ellen delivered in spades.”
Ellen van Loon: “We wanted to give Brighton College a building that continues to deliver more than strictly required, expanding the traditional definition of educational architecture. Generous spaces outside of classrooms become the pupils’ domain for self-directed activity and collaboration.”
Carol Patterson, Director-in-Charge: “Working on active projects in the UK with OMA for the last dozen or so years, Brighton College was the ultimate cultural deep dive. Merging our analytical thinking on space and occupation in such a historical typology was a fulfilling challenge. To see the building actively in use exceeds my imagination.”
Established in 1845, Brighton College is a private, co-ed boarding and day school in Brighton, England, and over the years has cemented its reputation as one of Britain's leading schools and was named the top independent school by the Sunday Times. The campus is comprised of two areas: a historical quadrangle, composed of Grade II listed buildings designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and Sir Thomas Jackson in the 19th century; and the playing field lined with buildings from the 1970s and 1980s, the site of the new building.
Brighton College is the first built school for secondary education by OMA. It follows the educational projects Lab City CentraleSupélec (2017), Millstein Hall (2011) and the IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center (2003).
More information
Architects
OMA Partner.- Ellen van Loon. Project Director.- Carol Patterson.
Competition Team
2013: Ellen van Loon, Rem Koolhaas, Carol Patterson, Gabriela Bandeira, Jan Barta, Marlies Boterman, Matthew Davis, Emile Estourgie, Alain Fouraux, Mindaugas Glodenis, Airat Khusnutdinov, Can Liu , Hans Larsson, Nikki Mulder, Edward Nicholson, Betty Ng, Francesca Pagliaro, , Tom Shadbolt, Liheng Zhang, Hongchuan Zhao.
2014.- Ellen van Loon, Carol Patterson Kees van Casteren, Alain Fouraux, Daniel Gonzales, Leonardos Katsaros, Hans Larsson, Ellen van Loon, Francesco Moncada, Martin Murrenhoff, Betty Ng, Vitor Oliveira, Pawel Panfiluk, Jad Semaan, Timur Shabaev, Jonathan Telkamp.
2014.- Ellen van Loon, Carol Patterson Kees van Casteren, Alain Fouraux, Daniel Gonzales, Leonardos Katsaros, Hans Larsson, Ellen van Loon, Francesco Moncada, Martin Murrenhoff, Betty Ng, Vitor Oliveira, Pawel Panfiluk, Jad Semaan, Timur Shabaev, Jonathan Telkamp.
Team
Schematic Design.- Carol Patterson, Marina Cogliani, Cristina Marin de Juan, Dinka Beglerbegovic.
Design Development.- Carol Patterson, Marina Cogliani, Michalis Hadjistyllis, Mario Rodriguez.
Construction.- Carol Patterson, Isabel da Silva, Marina Cogliani, Tom Pailing, Magdalena Stanescu.
Design Development.- Carol Patterson, Marina Cogliani, Michalis Hadjistyllis, Mario Rodriguez.
Construction.- Carol Patterson, Isabel da Silva, Marina Cogliani, Tom Pailing, Magdalena Stanescu.
Collaborators
Services engineer.- Skelley and Couch. Structural engineer.- Fluid Engineering. Landscape.- Bradley-Hole Schoenaich. Acoustics.- Ramboll. Fire engineer.- The Fire Surgery. Sustainability.- Eight Associates. Contractor.- McLaren. Employers representative.- Gardiner & Theobald. Project Manager.- Adrian Broadway.
Client
Brighton College
Builder company / Contractor
McLaren Construction Group.
CONTRACTORS
Reinforced concrete frame (Basement, Ground Floor, Lift Core).- Galldris.
Steel frame (above ground superstructure): Conder Allslade.
Precast concrete bridge beam (ground level floor to gyms).- Shay Murtagh.
Composite metal decking(typical above ground floors).- Prodeck Fixing / Conder Alslade.
External material elements.- Alumet.
CONTRACTORS
Reinforced concrete frame (Basement, Ground Floor, Lift Core).- Galldris.
Steel frame (above ground superstructure): Conder Allslade.
Precast concrete bridge beam (ground level floor to gyms).- Shay Murtagh.
Composite metal decking(typical above ground floors).- Prodeck Fixing / Conder Alslade.
External material elements.- Alumet.
Area / Measurements
GFA.- 7,425 m².
Total length of the building: 120m
Main building footprint: 120m x 23m
Running track (indoors): 30m
Running track (outdoors): 50m +18.5m run off space Swimming pool: 5 lane, 25m x 10.5m
Sports Hall: 35.2m x 22.9m x 7.9m (height)
Typical Lab: 12m x 7.5m x 2.96m (height)
Cinema: 10.5m x 9m x 2.95m
Greenhouse: 7.4m x 7.4m
Total length of the building: 120m
Main building footprint: 120m x 23m
Running track (indoors): 30m
Running track (outdoors): 50m +18.5m run off space Swimming pool: 5 lane, 25m x 10.5m
Sports Hall: 35.2m x 22.9m x 7.9m (height)
Typical Lab: 12m x 7.5m x 2.96m (height)
Cinema: 10.5m x 9m x 2.95m
Greenhouse: 7.4m x 7.4m
Budget
£36,700,000
Dates
Competition (2013, 2014), Commission (2014), Planning approval (2015), Construction (2017- 2019), Completion (2020). Completed, open January 5, 2020.
Venue / Adress
Eastern Rd, Brighton BN2 OAL, United Kingdom
Program
Educational (science class rooms, laboratories, sports facilities, swimming pool).
Sustainability
U-Value targets (W/M2k): Wall 0.2, Reglit Glazing 1.2, Standard glazing 1.2, Roof 0.14, Floor 0.2 Renewable energy: Ground source heat pump. CHP (combined heat and power).
Ventilation strategy: Passive, naturally ventilated. Mechanical heating/cooling only where required (sports) via ground source heat pump. High ceiling heights promote natural ventilation.
Lightning: Natural light, excellent daylighting to reduce daytime artificial light. Deep reveal for solar shading in summer. Rooflights.
Artificial lighting (lux): Gym/changing room 200, Sports Hall 300/500/750, typical classroom 300 Biodiversity: Sedum roof enhances and reduces water run-off
Ventilation strategy: Passive, naturally ventilated. Mechanical heating/cooling only where required (sports) via ground source heat pump. High ceiling heights promote natural ventilation.
Lightning: Natural light, excellent daylighting to reduce daytime artificial light. Deep reveal for solar shading in summer. Rooflights.
Artificial lighting (lux): Gym/changing room 200, Sports Hall 300/500/750, typical classroom 300 Biodiversity: Sedum roof enhances and reduces water run-off
Materials - External
Skeleton rainscreen cladding: Fibre C GFRC Cladding, liquid black (Supplied by Pura Facades) Aluminium curtain wall glazing: Natural anodized finish (Supplied by Schuco)
External doors: Natural anodized finish (Supplied by Schuco)
U Channel glass cladding: Toughened, heat soaked tested and low iron, natural anodized frame, security film applied, insulation infill (Supplied by Linit)
Precast concrete cladding (+ wedge steps): Natural anodized finish (Supplied by Creagh Concrete) Aluminium rainscreen cladding: Supplied by Taylor Maxwell
External doors: Natural anodized finish (Supplied by Schuco)
U Channel glass cladding: Toughened, heat soaked tested and low iron, natural anodized frame, security film applied, insulation infill (Supplied by Linit)
Precast concrete cladding (+ wedge steps): Natural anodized finish (Supplied by Creagh Concrete) Aluminium rainscreen cladding: Supplied by Taylor Maxwell
Material - Roof
Sedum: Extensive, used on non accessible areas (Contractor: Briggs Amasco)
Synthetic grass: Tigerturf finesse, used on accessible areas (Contractor: Fieldform)
Composite decking: Anthracite/ebony color (Supplied by Timco Wood)
Metal grating balustrade: Stainless steel, square aperture (Supplied by Elefant Gratings)
Glass Balustrade: Glazing channel - Stemcor Architectural EaziFit 1.5kN (Contractor: Bailey fabrications) Running track: Polytan Rekordan (Contractor: Fieldform)
Synthetic grass: Tigerturf finesse, used on accessible areas (Contractor: Fieldform)
Composite decking: Anthracite/ebony color (Supplied by Timco Wood)
Metal grating balustrade: Stainless steel, square aperture (Supplied by Elefant Gratings)
Glass Balustrade: Glazing channel - Stemcor Architectural EaziFit 1.5kN (Contractor: Bailey fabrications) Running track: Polytan Rekordan (Contractor: Fieldform)
Photography
Materials - Internal
Typical floor: Concrete screed + resilient layer (+UFH locally)
Floor finish sports hall/gym: Timber Oak (Supplied by Dynamic)
Floor finish typical lab + circulation: Linoleum (Supplied by Forbo)
Floor finish swimming pool: Glass Mosaic ceramic tiles (Supplied by Designworks Tiles) Floor finish changing areas: Mosaic ceramic tiles (Supplied by Togoma)
Floor finish entrance matting: Supplied by Coba Flooring
Typical wall: Gypframe metal stud (Supplied by British Gypsum)
Floor finish sports hall/gym: Timber Oak (Supplied by Dynamic)
Floor finish typical lab + circulation: Linoleum (Supplied by Forbo)
Floor finish swimming pool: Glass Mosaic ceramic tiles (Supplied by Designworks Tiles) Floor finish changing areas: Mosaic ceramic tiles (Supplied by Togoma)
Floor finish entrance matting: Supplied by Coba Flooring
Typical wall: Gypframe metal stud (Supplied by British Gypsum)
OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA's buildings and masterplans around the world insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use. OMA is led by ten partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten, Chris van Duijn, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Jason Long and Michael Kokora – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha and Dubai.
OMA-designed buildings currently under construction include Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Qatar National Library, Qatar Foundation Headquarters, Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale in Caen, Fondation d’Entreprise Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Bryghusprojektet in Copenhagen, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, and Faena Arts Center in Miami.
OMA's recently completed projects include Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015); Fondazione Prada in Milan (2015); G-Star Headquarters in Amsterdam (2014); Shenzhen Stock Exchange (2013); De Rotterdam, a large mixed-use tower in the Netherlands (2013); CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012); New Court, the headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London (2011); Milstein Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (2011); and Maggie's Centre, a cancer care centre in Glasgow (2011). Earlier buildings include Casa da Música in Porto (2005), Seattle Central Library (2004), and Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003).
Ellen van Loon
Ellen van Loon joined OMA in 1998 and has led several award-winning building projects that combine sophisticated design with precise execution. Some of her most significant contributions include the new G-Star Headquarters in Amsterdam (2014); De Rotterdam, the largest building in the Netherlands (2013); New Court, the Rothschild Bank headquarters in London (2011); exterior and interior design for Maggie's Centre near Glasgow (2011); the Prada Transformer pavilion in Seoul (2009); Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), winner of the 2007 RIBA Award; and the Dutch Embassy in Berlin (2003), winner of the European Union Mies van der Rohe award in 2005.
Van Loon is currently working on Factory, a large performing arts venue for Manchester; a new building for Brighton College in England; and the home of the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen.
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