The newly designed 312,000-sf Loyola University Campus in Seville, Spain has become the world’s first integrated campus to receive LEED Platinum, the highest environmental rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. The multipurpose facility, which also aims to be the first ‘5G Campus’ in the world, was designed to accommodate numerous aspects of learning and university life.
The $29 million project places all of the classrooms, laboratories, and common spaces (including the cafeteria and auditorium), which totals 265,000-sf, in a single, optimized building. The sports building, library, lockers, access building, and chapel, which totals over 47,000-sf of additional space, complete the complex.
Given Seville’s Mediterranean climate, where high temperatures are often the norm, special attention was paid to controlling sunlight. “The project makes use of the lessons learned in T2 at Heathrow Airport in the U.K., and incorporates textile technology – the design of an external element, ‘the candle,’ which controls the light that penetrates the buildings,” said Luis Vidal, President and Founding Partner at luis vidal + architects, in a release. “The campus also consists of a sequence of open and closed spaces, designed to provide self-shading.”
See also: Students aren’t the only ones who have returned to Austin College in Texas
Winter/summer plazas change with the seasons to provide comfortable outdoor space for students. During summer these plazas benefit from the sun shading of the buildings, generating spaces sheltered from the Western sunlight. In addition, the presence of water cools down the temperature and creates a microclimate of a certain comfort. During winter plazas heat up with sunlight, in its lowest angles of incidence and, they are protected from the prevailing winds.
The campus’ roof, facades, and windows were designed to minimize sizable energy losses. Photovoltaic panels were also installed to reduce the net-energy consumption of the building. A water recovery system was also incorporated. More than 20% of the building materials come from previous uses, and more than 30% of the materials were locally extracted from the surrounding area.
Project construction was wrapped in 17 months.
Related Stories
Mass Timber | May 1, 2023
SOM designs mass timber climate solutions center on Governors Island, anchored by Stony Brook University
Governors Island in New York Harbor will be home to a new climate-solutions center called The New York Climate Exchange. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), The Exchange will develop and deploy solutions to the global climate crisis while also acting as a regional hub for the green economy. New York’s Stony Brook University will serve as the center’s anchor institution.
University Buildings | Apr 24, 2023
Solving complicated research questions in interdisciplinary facilities
University and life science project owners should consider the value of more collaborative building methods, close collaboration with end users, and the benefits of partners who can leverage sector-specific knowledge to their advantage.
Green | Apr 21, 2023
Top 10 green building projects for 2023
The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Boston and the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis are among the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards honorees for 2023.
Higher Education | Apr 13, 2023
Higher education construction costs for 2023
Fresh data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a two-story college classroom building across 10 U.S. cities.
Market Data | Apr 11, 2023
Construction crane count reaches all-time high in Q1 2023
Toronto, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver top the list of U.S/Canadian cities with the greatest number of fixed cranes on construction sites, according to Rider Levett Bucknall's RLB Crane Index for North America for Q1 2023.
University Buildings | Apr 11, 2023
Supersizing higher education: Tracking the rise of mega buildings on university campuses
Mega buildings on higher education campuses aren’t unusual. But what has been different lately is the sheer number of supersized projects that have been in the works over the last 12–15 months.
Contractors | Apr 10, 2023
What makes prefabrication work? Factors every construction project should consider
There are many factors requiring careful consideration when determining whether a project is a good fit for prefabrication. JE Dunn’s Brian Burkett breaks down the most important considerations.
Smart Buildings | Apr 7, 2023
Carnegie Mellon University's research on advanced building sensors provokes heated controversy
A research project to test next-generation building sensors at Carnegie Mellon University provoked intense debate over the privacy implications of widespread deployment of the devices in a new 90,000-sf building. The light-switch-size devices, capable of measuring 12 types of data including motion and sound, were mounted in more than 300 locations throughout the building.
Architects | Apr 6, 2023
New tool from Perkins&Will will make public health data more accessible to designers and architects
Called PRECEDE, the dashboard is an open-source tool developed by Perkins&Will that draws on federal data to identify and assess community health priorities within the U.S. by location. The firm was recently awarded a $30,000 ASID Foundation Grant to enhance the tool.
Architects | Apr 6, 2023
Design for belonging: An introduction to inclusive design
The foundation of modern, formalized inclusive design can be traced back to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The movement has developed beyond the simple rules outlined by ADA regulations resulting in features like mothers’ rooms, prayer rooms, and inclusive restrooms.
