source: rohmernl
Studentenwoningen

Met de bouw van studentenwoningen op het universiteitscomplex van Utrecht ontwikkelt de Uithof zich tot een volwaardige campus, en wordt de chronische woningnood onder jongeren in deze stad aangepakt.

In de ‘Objectenstrook’ van het Masterplan van OMA manifesteert het complex van 380 zelfstandige en geclusterde kamers zich als een solitaire massa, 20 meter vrij uitkragend. De spectaculaire betonnen hoofddraagconstructie bestaat uit vier schijven die samen een theatrale ‘tafelpoot’ vormen. De poot met schommelbank dramatiseert de hoofdentree en creëert een stedenbouwkundige verblijfsplek die het ontmoeten en komen en gaan van al die studenten sublimeert.
De op de hoofddraagconstructie rustende kolos bestaat uit in de langsrichting getunnelde schijven, waardoor de flexibiliteit van het gebouw en daarmee een duurzame uitbreiding van de Uithof gegarandeerd zijn.

De gevel is opgebouwd uit een grid van veelkleurige aluminium panelen waarin de ramen ‘wegvallen’. Van een afstand gezien vloeien de kleuren samen tot een grijze schubbenhuid, dichterbij komend wordt een bonte bijenkorf voor bollebozen zichtbaar. Hierin weerspiegelt zich het brede spectrum van huurders uit alle windstreken.

Het gebouw voorziet in ontmoeting en uitwisseling op ieder schaalniveau: feestruimten, trappenhuizen en gangen met nissen vormen de microkosmos waarin de eerste echte liefdes opbloeien en blijvende vriendschappen worden geboren.
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source: archdaily
From the architect. The building of student housing on the Utrecht University site turned De Uithof into a fully-fledged campus, simultanously tackling the chronic housing shortage for young people in this city. The new complex of 380 independent and clustered rooms manifests itself as a solitary mass in the ‘strip of objects’ of the OMA master plan (which also includes the Unnik tower and the Educatorium). A four-storey tall concrete ‘leg’, which projects by eight metres, shelters a range of communal and commercial spaces.

The facade consists of a grid of multicoloured aluminium panels in which the windows are omitted. Seen from a distance, the colours blend into a grey, scaly skin. The closer you come, the more it appears as a colourful honeycomb for the bright young students – our ‘smarties’ – from all over the world.

Beneath this lively skin, the interior of the mass fosters encounter and interaction at every scale. Party rooms and niches along the staircases and corridors make a microcosm in which young love can flourish and lifelong friendships can develop.

De Uithof used to be a monotonous cluster of university buildings on the city margins of Utrecht. The separate buildings bore little relation to one another. Rem Koolhaas (OMA) and Art Zaaier devised a concept which would give De Uithof more coherence and character. Since then the object has been to achieve greater contrast between the built–up zones and open areas. The existing landscape qualities must be accentuated, but this must be balanced by compact building in functional clusters to enhance the level of urban interaction and eliminate the feeling of an urban desert.

The central section consists of the Kasbah zone, a dense strip in individual buildings are closely spaced, and the ‘Object’ zone, in which the buildings are of a similar scale but grouped separately around a walkable public strip. A hallmark of the central area is that the buildings also communicate internally through a continuous walkway at first floor level.
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source: rohmernl
The building of student dwellings in the complex of buildings belonging to Utrecht University has transformed the Uithof site into a full-fledged campus. It will also help relieve the chronic housing shortage for young people in the city of Utrecht.

Within the line of freestanding buildings (‘Objectenstrook’) the master plan designed by OMA, our block of 380 independent and clustered rooms presents itself as a solitary mass with a 20 metre cantilever. The spectacular main concrete supporting structure consists of four slabs that together form a theatrical single table leg. The ‘leg’ and its rocking bench dramatize the main entrance and create an urban rendezvous which distills the encounters and the to-and- from of all those students.
The colossal mass which rests on the main supporting structure consists of upright slabs penetrated by longitudinal tunnels, producing a building with high flexibility which will be a long-lasting addition to the Uithof.

The facade is made up of a grid of multicoloured aluminium panels with omissions for the windows. Seen from a distance, the colours coalesce into grey, scaly skin, but on closer viewing they turn into a colourful hive for young eggheads. The lively facade reflects the wide diversity of tenants from all corners of the world.

The building provides for encounter and communication at all scales. With its festive rooms, staircases and corridors with alcoves, the building forms a social microcosm in which youthful love may blossom and lasting friendships may develop.