CAMPUS 90

Campus 90

Headline

Nearby two reputable state universities this mixed-use building incorporates the functions of a student accommodation, a hotel and a conference center. Campus 90 responds to the increased interest from local and foreign students to education in the city of Varna and changes the character of the neighbourhood.

General description

The building is located by two busy city boulevards and aims to be a landmark, easily perceived by those moving at high speed. It has a simple rectangular silhouette while the facade is full of colour. The movement and speed inspired the color composition of the facade, which is a pixelated spiral rotating around the straight volume of the building.

The programme consists of 120 student accommodation units, 70 hotel rooms, 6 conference rooms with different range of seats, a restaurant, a fitness center, parking facilities for cars and bicycles and a large roof terrace. Various common areas create opportunities for the residents to exchange ideas in different environment, meet new people and spend their free time to the fullest. The heart of the Campus is the large living room with a lobby bar on the ground floor. There are different seating areas shared by students and hotel guests. Various events like film screening, concerts, talk events can be organized here. During the summer season the space opens to a large garden. A restaurant is also available for all residents and guests.

The programme evolves in height providing unique sea and city views from the rooms.

The student accommodation units are designed to be easily converted from a double to a single room. There are also clusters of rooms that share common kitchen and living space. Furthermore students have additional common areas to meet, rest and communicate – kitchen and party room, room for study and teamwork.

The hotel area is situated on the upper 5 floors of the building revealing panoramic view of the sea and the cityscape. Important elements of the interior design of the common areas and the hotel rooms are the drawings of the local graffiti artists “Arsek & Erase”.

One of the most valuable common spaces of the Campus is the rooftop terrace. It is a place for events, parties or just leisure. Residents and guests can enjoy a 360o areal view turning the rooftop into an open-space living room.

Concept/ Context and strategy

Significant challenge of the project was to provide a new functional programme to the partially completed structure of the building. The initial intention of the client was to build a high-rise office building and the construction began in 2008. The construction was interrupted due to the Global Financial Crisis (2008) and more than 10 years later the scope of the project was changed to a student accommodation building. The project was entirely redesigned, including structural strengthening. Additional functions were added to ensure full usage of the building throughout the year. Thus the project’s aim was to contribute to the improvement of the educational infrastructure of the city by providing safe environment for students to communicate, learn from each other and grow up together.

Construction/ Materials and structure

The building consists of 2 underground and 16 above ground levels. The structural material is reinforced concrete as it is the most common and economically reasonable one in the area. Materials used for the facade are completely non-combustible with a high level of energy efficiency and certificates for low carbon footprint values. The installations in the building are segmented by levels to ensure operational efficiency during uneven occupancy of the rooms.

Project: Campus 90
Date: 2022
Location: Varna, Bulgaria
Team: arch.Galina Baleva, arch. Ina Dineva, Arch. Martin Hristov