The Soheil Abedian School of Architecture is under construction and is scheduled for completion in April 2013. The design is a result of an international competition which was won by Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau (CRAB), London in association with Populous and Brit Andresen. The 4000m2 building will provide a public forum space for 120 people, studios for undergraduate and masters’ students, as well as post-graduate spaces, in a generally open-plan arrangement. Staff accommodation, resource room, reading room, atelier and coffee shop as well as environmental science laboratories constitute the other major functions within the building. The building is complemented by a 330 m2 workshop building and an existing 220m2 Architecture Fabrication Research Laboratory. In all, the workshop facilities will provide 550m2 of space for traditional workshop equipment as well as dedicated digital design and fabrication equipment and materials library.
Key elements of the main academic building include a 70metre long street of varying width and height adjacent to which are 4 “scoops” which bring light and air into the building. The scoops provide an important “eddy” space for informal gatherings, critiques and self-directed student activity. The inclined street and the eddy spaces will be key to the successful social interaction between students and also engagement with the broader community. The combined facilities, internal and external space, workshops and public spaces combine to fulfill the schools pedagogy of a strong theoretical foundation underpinned by “learning by making.”
