Central European University   Phase 1

The existing CEU campus consisted of adjoining buildings, each with their own entrance and minimal interconnectivity between them. We identified opportunities to intervene in this downtown urban block, to make what was a disconnected and disparate set of buildings into an open campus. We employed a process of selective subtraction and addition to transform the campus into a metaphorical crossroads. By a carefully considered “surgical” strategy we linked existing and new facilities through a legible sequence of connected courtyards. The functional layout provides easy communication between interrelated adjacencies, clusters connected by social spaces, encouraging interaction and collaboration between academic departments.

We proposed a phased strategy, making connections between existing courtyards, demolishing inefficient buildings and designing new buildings around a series of courts. Courtyards are roofed over to provide a tempered environment from the climatic extremes in winter and summer. The courtyards are the campus, providing circulation system and social space. Openings are cut through to provide visual connections. Flying staircases interconnect department offices to teaching spaces.

Landscaped Roof Gardens (intensively planted) play an important role in reducing heat gain in the buildings and enhance the environmental sustainability of the project. Landscaped gardens are included on the roofs of new and existing buildings. These form an accessible roofscape; a ‘hanging gardens of Budapest’. The roof gardens help to filter the air and shade the glass in summer as well as providing an important amenity space in this dense downtown site. The well-tempered environment of the covered courtyards, combined with a practical approach to natural ventilation, ensure a low-carbon economical strategy for long-term energy conservation.