Fact File
Owner: IESB Brasilia
Lead Designer: José Bruguera of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Renderings: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Source: V2Com
The New York-based architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners has been selected to design a major expansion to IESB Brasilia, an international university based in Brazil’s capital, that will more than double the size of the campus with new facilities and open spaces. The landscaped academic campus includes teaching spaces, auditorium, administration, health clinic, lab, library, and parking in a total gross area is 18,750 m2/201,800 ft2, plus 9,150 m2/98,500 ft2 underground parking.
IESB’s inward-focused existing campus will be transformed by an L-shaped complex featuring a new academic allée and a generous entry precinct with facilities that serve both the university and the public. A new linear campus green with a connective curvilinear canopy will unfold alongside a sequence of academic buildings joined by indoor and outdoor circulation paths. The modular composition of the complex allows classrooms of different types and sizes to be arranged as variations on a theme.
The new entry precinct is anchored by a colonnaded administration building and a freestanding auditorium, whose geometry of intersecting arcs extends into a surrounding landscaped plaza and adjacent clinic. The auditorium also marks the starting point for the linear campus green, which culminates at the entrance to a new library.
Below-grade parking under the existing buildings will be expanded beneath the new academic complex and campus green. A future phase will apply the strategy of connecting open spaces to the existing campus complex, increasing sunlight and improving sightlines throughout the university.
