Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2020
BaseCamp Lyngby Student Housing
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: BaseCamp Student
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 28,002
- Verification code 710CDDA3AB · Verify this award
About BaseCamp Lyngby Student Housing
BaseCamp Lyngby is a student housing campus built on a relatively flat site within a green neighborhood in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. The building rises gradually from ground level to a maximum height of six floors. A serpentine path runs along the full length of the roof, where gardens and small trees form a park-like landscape open to residents and visitors. The curved form wraps around several small courtyards, creating defined and intimate spaces where students can meet, read or relax. The green roof also buffers rainwater and reduces energy use.
Lars Gitz Architects's BaseCamp Lyngby Student Housing emerges from within contemporary discourse surrounding sustainable residential design and biophilic architecture, presenting a compelling vision for collective living that weaves built form and landscape into an inseparable whole. The serpentine configuration of this student housing complex appears to draw upon organic architectural traditions while simultaneously engaging with pressing contemporary concerns regarding environmental stewardship and community formation. The architects seem to have conceived the building as a continuous inhabited landscape rather than a conventional residential block, allowing the undulating timber-clad walls to create a sequence of sheltered courtyard gardens that offer residents intimate exterior spaces embedded within a larger communal realm. The technical accomplishment evident in the seamless integration of vegetated roofscapes, circulation pathways, and photovoltaic installations suggests a sophisticated approach to building performance that operates across multiple registers simultaneously. The warm materiality of the vertical timber screening establishes visual continuity while the varied roof levels and planted terraces introduce topographic richness that rewards extended contemplation. One observes how the generous fenestration patterns between timber bays might facilitate both natural illumination and visual connection between private dwelling units and shared landscapes, potentially fostering the social interaction essential to vibrant student communities. The preservation and integration of mature trees throughout the site indicates a respectful approach to existing ecological conditions, suggesting that the design process may have prioritized working with rather than against natural systems. Viewers might consider how such architectural approaches to housing could contribute to inhabitants' wellbeing through daily engagement with natural elements and communal outdoor spaces.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Studentcampus BaseCamp Lyngby is built on a relatively flat site covering 34.300 sqm. while being well integrated into green Lyngby neighborhood. At the entrance to the plot, the building rises slowly from ground level to the maximum height of six floors, inviting both inhabitants and visitors to enjoy the multiple green courtyards or to take a stroll along the serpentine path running in full length at the roof. Great views, gardens and many species of smaller trees and bushes make for an interesting walk in the park like landscape. The curved shape of the building wraps around smaller courtyards, creating well defined intimate spaces for the students to meet, read or simply relax.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The building of 37317 sq.m. lies on a 34300 sq.m. relatively flat site. It is 16,3 m wide and approx 1 km long. The buildings highest point is 22 m with its 6 levels in the south and from there it lowers its height all the way to the level 0 where the path connects. It is playfully wrapped around a vast common space in a round shaped building (1300 m 2) that visually reinforces the whole campus. Thus, bringing together all the shared functions and facilities by meeting the needs of students and residents of today and the near future.
- Tags
- Student housing, Residential architecture, Green roof, Sustainability, Nature interaction, Harmony
- Production Technology
- The building is certified at a DGNB Denmark “silver level”. The green roof provides a rainwater buffer, purifies the air, reduces the ambient temperature and saves energy. The facade is Rock Panel Durable and is certified BRE (Building Research Establishment) Class A+. 90 % of the energy of extracted air is reused in heating. Floor constructions accumulate heat during the day and minimize the need for heating at night. Facades are glazed in full height, so spaces are bathed in sun and daylight.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest creative challenge in this project was to create interesting and context inspired architecture by keeping the costs very low. In order to achieve that, only one module would be repeated in ways that could create organic shapes. After a few months of research the trapezoid shape was invented. This repetitive module creates the organic looking serpentine structure playfully positioned around old vegetation that existed on the plot.
- Project Duration
- Construction start 06/01/2018
Expected construction completion date 08/01/2020
Location: Skovbrynet 2, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark - Operation Flow
- Basecamp Lyngby is a serviced campus run by a team known as Basebuddies. All rooms are furnished and have private bathrooms. The majority have their own kitchenette to. The interior design is made by Studio Aisslinger and provides great qualities in the rooms and common areas. Common areas are designed to enhance social interaction. In the curved main building as kitchens and living rooms. The round central building is made solely for the students to meet and contains space for play, party, fitness, lectures and studying.
- Research
- The location is in the midst of beautiful nature, close to Lyngby Lake and the Unesco preserved park “Dyrehaven”. The city center and Denmark's Technical University (DTU) are reachable by bike within a few minutes. A 1000 bike parking spaces encourage the use of the greenest transport possible and the train station located nearby adds to this – thereby also making the capital, Copenhagen, reachable within only 20 minutes. The lake is just by the southern side of the plot, which provides the opportunity to hike, sail or kayak within a short reach. Since the project is relatively large for the area, it has been an ambition to give something back by making the roof park accessible for the public, and in that way improve and attract the local community in relation to social, economic, and environmental aspects.
- Inspiration
- The concept and the organic form were inspired by the context. This part of the city has a very natural and green character that the building is in harmony with. The idea was to bring students closer to the nature and motivate them to interact with it. The project had to satisfy the low-cost an sustainability demand. A trapezoid repeatable shaped module that rotates differently within the same radius was invented, creating the round organic shaped structure. The structure is uninterruptedly running all the way through the site, creating a walking path in the nature on top of the building.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Illustrator Lars Gitz Architects, Front view, 2017
Image #2: Illustrator Kragh & Berglund Landscape architecture & Urban Design, Entrance, 2019
Image #3: Illustrator Lars Gitz Architects, Common building, 2017
Image #4: Illustrator Lars Gitz Architects, Site visualization, 2017
Image #5: Photographer BaseCamp Student, Work in progress, 2019
Video Credits: Kragh & Berglund Landscape architecture & Urban Design and Lars Gitz Architects, 2019 - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Lars Gitz Architects, 2020.