OVERVIEW
The University of Cape Town (UCT) at present lacks a dedicated venue for student social activities, so a task was set to develop a new student centre for the campus.
The site of the carpool parking lot has the potential to support a lively student centre. It stands below the two main residences of Upper Campus. It faces onto the rugby field, rugby matches being a key part of undergraduate student culture. The site also has enough distance from the academic facilities that a student identity could be established within a new building.
SPATIAL HIERARCHY & PROGRAMME
Spatial hierarchy was an important concept in shaping the spaces within the new centre. The large social spaces were designed to receive abundant north sunlight, to be well supported by service facilities and generally had an enclosing form, sheltering them from south-easterly wind and noise from the highway.
The large exhibition space to the south of the building receives soft indirect sunlight and its undulating form allows it to integrate with the landscaped terraces leading to the centre.
APPROACH TO DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
With the steep slope of the site (a fall greater than 4m), I saw an opportunity to sculpt into the landscape to create a variety of outdoor spaces. I responded to the natural curved form of the site to orient my proposed building northwards and facing onto the lively activities of the rugby field. I developed the forms through a series of topographic models that I carved into to create a stepped series of outdoor social nodes leading up to the building.