Danish studios EFFEKT and CF Møller Architects have completed the Svendborg International Maritime Academy in Denmark, using an exposed concrete frame to echo its industrial surrounds.
Overlooking the harbour in the North Quay of the former port city Svendborg, the 12,500-square-metre centre unites several previously separate departments of Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC), providing combined study spaces for 1,000 students.
EFFEKT and CF Møller Architects have created a building for Svendborg International Maritime Academy
EFFEKT and CF Møller Architects designed a “resilient grid” for the building formed of prefabricated concrete elements, which nods to the surrounding architecture and is divided with glass partitions to create teaching spaces that can be easily modified or adapted in future.
“We set out with the desire to create an extremely raw and transparent grid structure, contextually adapted to its industrious setting while capable of staging the school’s workshop-based content,” explained CF Møller Architects partner Mads Mandrup.
It is characterised by an exposed concrete grid
“[It is] a scaffolding of spatial possibilities, centred around encouraging young people to encounter and exchange ideas through informal meetings, both within and out towards its surroundings, activating the whole harbour front of Svendborg,” Mandrup added.
SIMAC’s teaching spaces are organised across five storeys around a central 20-metre-high atrium. Lined with balconies, this atrium visually connects each level to a communal seating area on the ground floor.
Five storeys of educational facilities surround a 20-metre-high atrium
Double-height spaces house specialist workshops alongside conventional offices and classrooms, with the glass partitions intended to “stimulate communication and informal exchange” between areas, said the studios.
On the roof is a communal terrace for students and staff, providing both internal and external spaces with expansive views out across the harbour framed by the hollow concrete grid.
Taking cues from the raw concrete structure, interior finishes have been kept minimal and unfinished, with exposed ducting and steel balustrades. Social areas are visually softened by wooden details, including an area of tiered seating.
On the building’s exterior, panels of glazing and corrugated metal have been pulled back to express the concrete structure. In each corner, the grid is cut away to create sheltered external areas for the cafe and canteen, which are open to the public.
An area of tiered communal seating is among those with wooden detailing
“You see the same raw, minimalist exposed column-girder structure both from the outside and the inside,” said EFFEKT co-founder Sinus Lynge.
“The space essentially flows through the building’s structure, and the intriguing aspect concerning the concrete elements is that SIMAC’s structure is the architecture,” he added.
Exposed ducting contributes to the raw interior aesthetic
SIMAC is the first project to be completed as part of a wider masterplan for a new district in Svendborg, which is set to transform 5.5 hectares of industrial area with new education, business and residential buildings.
Elsewhere, EFFEKT also recently completed Denmark’s first treetop walkway at the Hamaren Activity Park in Fyresdal and CF Møller Architects created the headquarters for Lego in Billund with a bright yellow atrium.
An aquarium designed to protect marine biodiversity and a healing centre using horticultural techniques to help treat mental illness are included in our latest school show by architecture students at the Academy of Art University.
Other projects include a “public living room” that blends neighbourhood life with areas for privacy and a residential hub designed to enable economic self-sufficiency for residents.
School:Academy of Art University, School of Architecture Courses: M.Arch M.Arch2 B.Arch MA and BA Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim, David Gill, Nicole Lambrou, Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Harrison, Philip Ra and Mini Chu
School statement:
“We are a progressive design laboratory of highly passionate students and a distinguished faculty of practising architects who work together to explore the boundaries of architecture. Our interactive onsite and online studio experience harnesses digital tools to mentor students throughout our rigorous curriculum.
“We offer an excellent design education by developing each student’s capacity to synthesise critical thought, architectural vision, and technical comprehension. Our programmes engage with current global issues, empowering students to be change-makers and leaders advocating for social equity. Our diverse international community enables us to propagate a unique cultural response to build a better world.”
Outer Mission Ramp Library – a knowledge connector for rapidly changing communities by Yi Hsien Rachel Wang
“The typology of library buildings has evolved throughout history, reflecting the changes in information systems and learning activities. By combining social, functional and environmental benefits, the thesis is projecting a new sustainable library typology as a prototype for a public learning infrastructure.
“The main conceptual idea is to design the library as a continuous ramp, connecting previously separated areas in the diverse local city fabric. The architectural intervention shortens the neighbourhood’s physical and social distances by combining pedestrian bridges, casual and formal learning infrastructure as a public living room for residents to gather, work, exercise and entertain.”
Student:Yi Hsien Rachel Wang Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Self-generating Architecture: Pier 28 by Valeryia Haletskaya
“The design for a hybrid aquarium and research-development centre at Pier 28 on the San Francisco waterfront employs organic, metabolic and self-generating materials. Artificial organisms – protocells that in time grow into artificial limestone – help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide while reinforcing the existing structure and building its sea-wall reef, skeleton, and envelope.
“Researchers, students and visitors share spaces for learning, interaction, and collaboration. The scheme offers protection for marine species and enhances biodiversity. The living architectural intervention is aimed as a long-term solution for coastal cities and other areas at risk from storms surges due to climate change.”
Student: Valeryia Haletskaya Course: Master of Architecture Thesis M.Arch Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Outer Mix Investigating mixed-use development as a means to fostering a healthy year-round community on the Outer Cape by Christian Fish
“A lack of affordable, year-round housing has become an urgent crisis on Cape Cod, afflicting low and middle-income families depending on a largely seasonal economy. Outer Mix imagines a new residential, social and economic hub on a 10-acre area in the Eastham Corridor Special District.
“Organised into four blocks repeated throughout the site, 95 residential units are combined with nearly 30,000 square feet of economic and social programming. This includes artist studios, co-working spaces, cafes, a library, daycare and community greenhouse. This programme mix enables economic and sustainable self-sufficiency and a community for residents.”
Student: Christian Fish Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Nicole Lambrou
Eco-Tecture – Unifying Ecology with Architecture by Kevin Brady
“How can architecture enhance, improve and support educational and public awareness of the conservation and preservation of our local natural resources? Exposure and access to the elements of nature enliven the spirit, inspire curiosity, and encourages a ‘critical thinking’ response while promoting a healthy interactive lifestyle.
“This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could positively impact an ecological setting that strengthens community health, productivity, conservation and ecological awareness. This design approach engages user groups with the natural environment while preserving the ecological habitat.”
Student: Kevin Brady Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: David Gill
A Living Architecture by Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili
“This project is a healing centre incorporating earth and plants into its form and structure to create a holistic, sustainable space for wellness and rehabilitation. Farming, nature and architecture form a dialectic relationship. Horticultural techniques such as pleaching aid in the treatment of mental illness and serve as a therapeutic strategy.
“Located in Bakersfield, near Oil City in Kern County, California, the site is near the highest polluted city in the United States. The project aims to aid in healing people with a tranquil environment that incorporates sustainable and biophilic design.”
Student: Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Unity Pavilion for Northridge Cooperative Housing by Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel, Kenta Oye, Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel and Daniel Cervantes
“A design-build project by the B.Lab group, the pavilion fosters cooking, eating and storytelling within a community garden in the Hunters Point neighbourhood of San Francisco.
“Due to a lack of access to healthy, affordable food in the area, the pavilion integrates counters, benches, and a movable kitchen table for cooking demonstrations using produce directly from the garden, while a series of frames offer shade and a vista of the bay.
“The design was derived from several communities and youth workshops together with feedback from garden volunteers, and the pavilion was measured and tested on full-scale prototypes before construction.”
“The project investigates the relationship between the sacred and the political, and the role of the autonomous citizen therein. Sign-up sheets are simple yet contractual.
“Where public services are exchanged, they are activating devices bringing citizens together to achieve common goals. Sacred architecture has been a beacon of alternative governance by becoming places of refuge and political action.
“This thesis frames those events as distinct from the economic agenda of neoliberalism. Sign-Up Sheet reimagines the site with an urban sanctuary in San Francisco’s Tenderloin where non-profit staffs and community members live and work in a hub of collective activity.”
Student: Daniel Joonhee Lee Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Kid of Parts for the Bayview Commons Apartments by Adam Nuru, Markish Siojo, Dylan Ingle, Fabio Lemos, Xiaohuan Corona Gao
“Through a series of community events at the Bayview Commons Apartments, an affordable housing community in San Francisco, we learned that residents wanted an active, intergenerational, and flexible space that allowed for relaxation, interactive play and community events.
“Our final design incorporates a set of flexible, movable furniture that can be set up in different configurations. Intergenerational play, imagination, and socializing are emphasized through the design of different panels on the modular pieces. The colourful groundscape is coded to give clues for spatial use and provide a vibrant surface that complements the colours of the wall mural.”
“Urban planning in San Francisco has confined ethnic neighbourhoods to inhuman spaces. My ancestral heritage includes the repeated displacement of the Japanese community to unwanted or forgotten territories.
“The design reveals the lost layers of the site – where the first Japan town took root in 1900 – by activating the alleys, offering a cultural centre that borrows from museum and immigration centre programmes.
“The act of making was the catharsis that enabled this community to cope creatively. Ceramic, wood, and sewing galleries are paired with adjacent workshops, providing spaces to congregate, exchange ideas and share experiences through craft.”
Student:Kenta Oye Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Urban Living Room by Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng
“The project brings neighbourhood life into public space while blurring boundaries and creating conditions of privacy. Public programmes and varied open spaces blend traditional library and private spaces with adjacent buildings.
“The design responds to natural light, wind, and views but also create opportunities to block visual contact with adjacent residences. People are welcome to celebrate their time here, and the architecture makes invisible boundaries to protect their personal space as needed.
“This is not just a library or another place to hang out; the proposal also provides opportunities for people to safely interact in acceptable proximities.”
Student: Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Academy of Art University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
