Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz (Spain)
The Jerez campus covers an area of approximately 10 hectares. Nowadays, approximately the northern half is fully developed. The new lecture room complements the UCA’s commitment to the Jerez Campus in order to respond to the growth of its learning and scientific activities.
The extension of the pedestrian network organizes the entire campus’s circulation. The building integrates with this network, overlapping its main circulation with the pedestrian axis, making the main lobby part of the campus’s natural flow.
The building follows a comb-shaped layout, with its main facades facing south and east, improving natural lighting conditions for the classrooms. In one case or the other, fixed slats feature a solar shading system, horizontals to the south and vertical to the east, providing uniform levels of lighting while avoiding direct sunlight on the facades.
Due to its very high occupancy (3,155 people simultaneously) the building’s design is based mainly on criteria of modularity. Free spaces must have an important weight in the organization of the building in order to handle the peaks of occupancy that may occur.
The building is structured around the double-height lobby. From this space secondary circulations lead to each classroom block. Double-height spaces that enhance the feeling of spaciousness. The lobby features overhead lighting with south-facing skylights, while the galleries of the three classroom blocks open to the north, controlling the size of the openings, which are more open on the ground floor and limited on the upper floor.