Savannakhet
Masterplan Campus
University

Inneres Campusgebiet

Education, Residential

ADB, Asian Development Bank

MOES, Ministry of Education and Sports

SKU, Savannakhet University Committees

GFA app. 50.000 m²

2016

Highlighting the beauty and biodiversity of the site‘s natural assets was the main concern while creating a campus in the forest. The “genius loci” of the site was retained in order to create a green experience for the campus users, by offering perspective views onto the forest, while creating a sense of place and enclosure within the campus.

The campus is designed to create a compact compound with all advantages of creating a distinct place in the forest with inner courtyards and connecting walkways. The canopies connecting the various faculty buildings also house academic infrastructure, connect the faculty buildings and become a flexible learning space for all faculties. They become a network of “learning streets” for students and teachers to meet. Agricultural garden patios within the faculties, contain water features, protected outdoor spaces and at the same time offer a variety of greenery to mitigate the climate. A botanical path weaving through the campus becomes a learning experience about the indigenous vegetation, where as a „Champa Tree Alley“ along the central axis of the university showcases the different varieties of this species across the campus.

The faculty buildings are proposed as a highly flexible system that allows for adaptations for changing needs. The structural system is designed so that partitions and department layouts can easily be modified. Open labs and informal bookable offices and meeting rooms provide students and teachers with the opportunity to work trans-disciplinarily. Generally resources are shared and pooled among the departments.

Both urban and architectural designs thoroughly take the specific tropical climate into consideration, offering a high amount of porosity in the volumes of the buildings, securing natural ventilation to create climate adaptive buildings.