After pandemic-related stops and starts, Wenzhou-Kean University’s Ge Hekai Hall has finally begun to see full occupancy. Located in Wenzhou, China, about five hours south of Shanghai, Ge Hekai Hall serves as the front door to the university’s 175-acre campus. Designed by Moore Ruble Yudell, Ge Hekai Hall houses three schools, including architecture and design, for Wenzhou-Kean University, a joint venture between New Jersey’s Kean University and China’s Wenzhou University.
Ge Hekai Hall’s gateway portico nods to both the surrounding mountain landscape and the high-rise residential towers across the street. The structure comprises eight buildings that contain classrooms, offices, shops, and a library. Evoking traditional Chinese alleyway neighborhoods, the alleys between the buildings provide light and air, multiple entries, and spaces for informal interaction. Accessible 24/7, the building’s rooftops are connected by a network of bridges. Atop these linear buildings sit two high-bay studio loft buildings.
“The building design concept revolves around sets of dualities: China’s past and future, building techniques old and new, and a set of orthogonal lower buildings supporting an active, angular upper building,” Christopher Chan, AIA, principal-in-charge of the project at Moore Ruble Yudell, said in a statement.
At the intersection of the lower and upper buildings, a civic-scaled atrium called the Forum serves as a community and social hub, an extension of the classrooms, and an 800-person event venue for the entire university.
Designed to LEED Gold and China Two-Star standards, the building integrates facade sunshades, a photovoltaic array, rainwater harvesting, thermal massing with a heat recovery system, and a passively cooled atrium. To enhance wellness, the design provides ample indirect sunlight and biophilic elements, such as over 2,000 square meters of solid wood. In addition, the building provides only the code minimum number of elevators, encouraging people to use the stairs in the Forum atrium.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Wenzhou-Kean University
Design architect, interior design, and landscape design: Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
Associate architect: Tongji University Architecture Design Research Institute
Architect of record: Zhongtian Construction Architectural Design Institute
Structural, civil, and MEP engineer: Zhongtian Construction Group Company Limited
Building and atrium lighting designer: Brandston Partnership Incorporated (BPI)
General contractor: Zhongtian Construction Group Company Limited
Related Stories
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Campus building gives students a taste of the business world
William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.
| Oct 13, 2010
Science building supports enrollment increases
The new Kluge-Moses Science Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, in Charlottesville, is part of a campus update designed and managed by the Lukmire Partnership. The 34,000-sf building is designed to be both a focal point of the college and a recruitment mechanism to get more students enrolling in healthcare programs.
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 12, 2010
University of Toledo, Memorial Field House
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Oct 12, 2010
Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Farmington, Conn.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Administrators at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington didn’t think much of the 1970s building they planned to turn into the school’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building. It’s not that the former toxicology research facility was in such terrible shape, but the 117,800-sf structure had almost no windows and its interior was dark and chopped up.