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Zorrozaurre - Arts Further Education College

Part 2 Project 2007
Tim Rowley
University of Plymouth | UK
Located on a peninsular undergoing massive urban regeneration, the college deals with notions of erosion and change over time. Its form is crafted from the desire to create key spaces surrounding it: a large public space under constant tension and intrusion by water; a new piazza for the existing church; a market place square. The activity generated within these spaces dictates where the building is eroded and sculpted. The external envelope of the building is austere and typically Basque, being made of precast concrete, whilst the inside space, dominated by top lit, full height circulation, is wrapped in delicate timber.


Tim’s proposition is grounded in an informed and sensitive response to the cultural and social fabric of both its immediate context and the Basque Country. Its scale, form and articulation reflect (though do not mimic) the character of the existing industrial buildings adjacent to the site, while the simplicity, materiality and robustness of the block reflect Basque cultural attitudes. The building acts to generate a variety of public places around and underneath it, which serve as a platform for both activities spilling out of the building itself and the quotidian appropriation of outdoor spaces that are intrinsic to local life.

2007
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