Canteen Campus Heide Süd

2009-2011

Field (campus) and table (canteen)

New buildings for central facilities of Martin Luther University are to be realised on the open space of the former barracks complex on Heideallee in Halle an der Saale. As a masterplan, we propose a twisted arrangement of new buildings on the existing open space in order to give the university’s central facilities a more prominent position on the campus than the axially symmetrical arrangement of the former barracks buildings. The existing buildings (experimental greenhouse and lecture theatre building) are also integrated and thus become equal parts of the building ensemble.

A square, two-storey building was developed for the canteen, which is highly significant and related to its surroundings thanks to the visual division of the storeys. The atmosphere of individual quality of stay for each table within a large space can be found convincingly in the catering sector in council cellars and pubs in historic vaults. This typology of individual room segments that add up to a creative whole is translated into a modern solution in the present design. As with the vaulted cellars, the space-forming elements also take over the structural design of the building. Depending on the time of day and the type of use, supporting daylight and artificial light ‘set the scene’ for the room sequences and thus create the appropriate atmosphere in the rooms.