ARCHITECTURE _ Perkins+Will has completed the first phase of the master plan for the Universidade Agostinho Neto in Luanda, Angola.
The heart of the project, nearly 31,000 square meters, includes four buildings that house the classrooms located around a library and a central square. The 'teaching' buildings, two or three floors high, designed for mathematics, chemistry, physics and computer science lessons, have cantilever roofs equipped with a sun-shading system to protect the underlying structures from direct sunlight.
The roofs extend between the buildings covering aerial walkways, providing an excellent interconnection system. In addition to shielding from the tropical sun, the innovative design of the roofs promotes natural ventilation around the on-campus buildings.
The library, the tallest structure on campus, creates a focal element and the identification landmark. The building is located in a central square “furnished” with native wild plants. Square and 'garden' serve as meeting space and outdoor reading room. Responding to the programmatic needs of the faculty, Perkins + Will has created “educational towers”. Two-storey buildings with seminar rooms on the ground floor and offices for the teachers above. Each college also includes an auditorium, offices, teaching laboratories and classrooms for meetings, all of which are high-tech and flexible.
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