The recently completed Student Centre Building for Arts University Bournemouth provides a new destination on the Wallisdown campus for Student support services, the Students Union, and Campus facilities managment. The new buildings have delivered expanded and enhanced spaces for staff offices, student consultation and counselling, well-being and a drop-in GP surgery, group seminar and meeting spaces, as well as new reception and orientation spaces.
A sculptural steel external entrance canopy visually links the new buildings, also adding definition to the approach onto the AUB campus. The brickwork facades are a material familar to the campus, although used here in a contemporary manner, with the detailed integration of pre-cast elements allowing generous full-height and corner windows, with inset aluminium clad facades and louvres for natural ventilation. Innovative insulated concrete formwork construction, triple-glazing, and bespoke M&E systems target Passivhaus levels of environmental performance, and should deliver long-term benefits to the university. Internally the furniture selection and specification by Design Engine has been considered to create a calm and cosy atmosphere appropraite to the buildings use.