9 E ingangshalle mit Empfang 10 Büro im Nordflügel 11 Flur im Obergeschoss; rechts die Besprechungsräume über der Eingangshalle 12 Lüftungs- und Energie konzept Sommer 13 Lüftungs- und Energie konzept Winter 9 E xhibition hall with reception 10 Office in the north wing 11 Upper floor corridor with conference rooms to the right 12 Ventilation / energy concept: summer 13 Ventilation / energy concept: winter
During the past twenty-five years, the University of East Anglia (UEA) has instigated a series of ground-breaking sustainable buildings on its campus, which is situated on the western periphery of the Norwich. This followed after the University’s first series of architecturally striking new university buildings, which included Denys Lasdun’s campus plan and famous ziggurat accommodation blocks (1963−1966), as well as Norman Foster’s Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (1978). In contrast, the Elizabeth Fry building by John Miller & Partners (1995) was celebrated as the lowest-energy building of 1990s Britain, rather than for the quality of its architecture. In the following years, RMJM’s Zuckerman Institute (2002) and the Thomas Paine Building by RH Partnership Architects (2009) advanced Fry’s low-energy approach. In 2010, the university established an energy and carbon reduction programme, committing to a 35 % reduction by 2015 from the 1990 baseline. It was in the context of this recent history that the Enterprise Centre was handed over to its UEA client, the Adapt Low Carbon Group in the summer of 2015. Fulfilling both Passive House and BREEAM “Outstanding” credentials, the new-build has been promoted as “Britain’s greenest building” by the UEA. A key business aim of the Adapt Group is sup-
porting and developing local businesses working with regionally sourced, bio-based materials and low-carbon technologies. Hence, the new building is intended both as incubator and home to small and mediumscale businesses emerging from the university’s research programmes, as well as a teaching facility for UEA’s students. E-shaped in plan, the building faces east, perpendicular to the main entrance road to the campus. The ground floor entrance is set back from the open portico, behind which there is a 300-seat lecture theatre. An open, double-volume foyer extends along the west side of the building, comprising a reception area, seating and exhibition areas, above which, four “meeting pods” are strung along an open gallery. The north wing accommodates small business “hatcheries”, whereas student workrooms and seminar rooms are located in the southern wing, creating a total 3,400 m2 gross internal floor area. The Enterprise Centre’s pitch for “deep green” credentials lies in its extensive use of primarily locally-sourced, bio-based building materials, most explicitly represented by 294 straw thatch panels that were applied as rain screen cladding on the north, west and east facades. The handmade straw thatch includes regionally grown, long straws harvested from wheat
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