Birk Heilmeyer und Frenzel Architekten

Description

In the new Learning and Application Centre (LAZ), students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology collaborate across faculties in a practical, project-oriented learning environment. Located on the southern campus of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the building is precisely positioned between the KIT high rise and the Carl Benz lecture theatre building. A low-rise workshop building adjoins the lecture theatre, while the five-storey main building has the character of a freestanding volume. Together, the two structures frame the street space while remaining clearly distinguishable. Access is provided through the adjacent buildings and a structural gap. Vertical circulation is organised around a centrally located box staircase within a cast-in-situ concrete core, dividing each floor into two column-free zones. The ground floor combines a lecture theatre with a flexible multi-purpose area featuring seating steps, complemented by workshops with a gallery in the low-rise building. Upper floors accommodate student workspaces on one side and communication and project rooms on the other. The interior is defined by exposed concrete, aluminium, glass and oak parquet. A prefabricated skeleton structure with reinforced concrete columns, edge beams and prestressed TT slabs enables flexible, column-free layouts. Generous openings with innovative sliding windows make learning activities visible to the public and open the campus to the city.