Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio Building, AUB Poole Architecture Photos, Architect Peter Cook
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio, UK
4 November 2021
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio Building
Design: Professor Sir Peter Cook Architect
Location: AUB Wallisdown campus, Poole, Dorset, southern England, UK
Photos © Richard Bryant
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio in Poole
The building, as with the completed Drawing Studio, encourages innovation and creativity that is especially useful to the creative industries. Such initiatives have become hallmarks of the Arts University, which has particular links into the film industry and the performing arts as well as architecture, graphic design, etc.
The Innovation Studio acts as a catalyst for growth, providing a base for micro and small businesses to develop, mainly involving recent graduates, supported by experts in the universities and businesses at a local, national and international level.
The detail of the architecture makes particular reference to the self-identification of the groups within : deliberately offering each group a differently shaped window from the next and a series of ‘eyelid’ shutters with which a group can signal its mood of privacy or exposure.
The site consists of a small infill between the administration University House block and the main Workshop block. With direct connection through to the workshop, the building deliberately breaks down the categories of ‘office’, ‘studio’ and ‘workshop’- and is thus an appropriate hybrid for future practice.
The building establishes its own particular personality amongst AUB’s family of buildings. It is a sunny, seaside building and a punctuation to the otherwise monochromatic blocks either side. The view from the street and from the Campus side has a visual impact by way of its figuration through the use of flat shape and colour – effectively creating a ‘mural’. This transfers down onto the pathways around : giving a celebratory feel to that corner of the campus.
The two-floor interior features a top-lit central skylight lantern with a void under that visually links the upper and lower levels. A near-replica of Gunnar Asplund’s iconic clock in the Gothenburg Law Courts (still remembered as an inspiration to the 17 year old Peter Cook as a student at the Bournemouth Art College) is the common focus. Bespoke Interlocking furniture, screens and fittings continue the red/orange/yellow aesthetic of the exterior.
On the ground floor, we have the technology experimental space with direct access to the workshop machinery. The 3D print suite is placed in the ‘nose’ of the building. The conference room is kept to the east with direct connection to the entrance.
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio Poole – Building Information
Location: Arts University Bournemouth, Wallisdown Rd, Wallisdown, Poole BH12 5HH
Internal area: 502 m2
Architect: Sir Peter Cook
Team: Peter Cook, Tim Culverhouse, Jenna de Leon, Stefan Lengen
Cost Consultant: PT Projects
Structural Engineer: AKT II
Service Engineer: P3r Engineers
Landscape Architect: HED
Main Contractor: Kier
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio Opening
Top international architects launch AUB’s brand-new Innovation Studio
World-class architects have gathered in the town to mark the opening of Arts University Bournemouth’s brand-new Innovation Studio, designed by Professor Sir Peter Cook.
Jane Drew Prize winner Odile Decq and RIBA Gold Award recipient Professor Sir Peter Cook were among a group of internationally renowned architects descending on Bournemouth for the opening of Arts University Bournemouth’s state-of-the-art new Innovation Studio.
Odile Decq, Professor Sir Peter Cook and others at the launch:
photo : Richard Tarr (AUB)
The specialist arts institution, which recently came second in a ranking of the UK’s most creative universities, has welcomed a group of esteemed architects, academics, and urban planners to its campus with a flagship jamboree event looking at The Optimistic Future of Architecture.
Keynote speakers attending AUB’s two-day event included French Architect and Urban Planner Odile Decq, a recipient of the prestigious Jane Drew Prize, Lorens Holm, Director of the Geddes Institute for Urban Research, and Gilles Retsin, Associate Professor and M.Arch Programme Director at the Bartlett School of Architecture.
The Innovation Studio has been developed with funding from Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (Dorset LEP) to support business research, development, and innovation across the region, acting as a base for small business start-ups and emerging entrepreneurial projects.
The facility will also be home to some of the latest digital and physical manufacturing technologies, including Large Format Additive Printing, CNC milling and waterjet cutting, and VR/AR technologies including projection, 3D body scanning, and a green screen studio.
The Studio will aim to deliver additional benefits to the locality by encouraging employability between the university and local business users, providing a catalyst for growth and industry.
The Studio’s launch event was hosted by university Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Gough, alongside alumni Professor Sir Peter Cook, the project’s architect, who celebrates his second building at AUB following 2016’s Drawing Studio, the first purpose-built drawing studio in Britain for more than 100 years.
AUB Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Gough said: “The university is humbled by the presence of leading figures from across the world of architecture, who’ve assembled on our campus to mark the opening of our new Innovation Studio.
“Architecture is often seen as the cradle of the creative arts; and perhaps as the most visible and imposing physical expression of art, it is wholly appropriate that this studio stands proud as a space to harbour the genesis of innovative new concepts, designs and thinking.”
Visiting speaker and esteemed architect Odile Decq said: “Being a successful innovator is about being brave, taking risks, and seeking solutions in the face of the prospect of failure.
“Technology will continue to play an increasingly pivotal role in shaping the world. All students passing through this institution will equip themselves with the means to take on a host of different issues and problems through their understanding of how ground-breaking technology can alter perceptions of what is possible – both now and in the future.”
Professor Sir Peter Cook, an esteemed architect and Royal Academician who graduated AUB in the 1950s, gave his talk to students around the future of architecture. He said: “It’s been my pleasure to speak to students from across AUB’s many disciplines and welcome them to the university’s exciting new venture, the Innovation Studio.”
“The space is a rich vessel for creativity and innovation, and those creating within these walls will almost certainly working towards solutions to some of mankind’s greatest challenges; from climate change to transport, and connectivity to infrastructure.”
The jamboree forms the first of two flagship events held by the university to celebrate the Innovation Studio; with those from across the regional industry and business community being invited to hear from speakers, and experience a tour of the new facility later this year.
To read more about AUB, visit aub.ac.uk.
Professor Sir Peter Cook Architect
Photographs © Richard Bryant / arcaidimages.com
Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio images / information received 041121
Location: Wallisdown, Poole BH12 5HH, England, UK
Arts University Bournemouth Buildings
Previous AUB building design by Sir Peter Cook, CRAB Studio:
Arts University Bournemouth Drawing Studio
photo from architect
Drawing studio at Arts University Bournemouth
Recent architectural designs:
Arts University Bournemouth Student Halls
Architect: Design Engine
image : Design Engine
Arts University Bournemouth Student Halls
Arts University Bournemouth Design Studios and Workshops
photograph © Jim Stephenson
Arts University Bournemouth Design Studios and Workshops
AUB Student Housing
Architects: Design Engine
Arts University Bournemouth Student Housing
Architecture in southern England
Dorset Architecture
photo from architect
Fusion Building at Bournemouth University
Fusion Building Bournemouth University
Bournemouth Landmark Design Competition
Bournemouth Landmark Design Competition
Castle Cove Houses, Portland Harbour
Architects: AR Design Studio
Castle Cove Properties in Dorset
Poole Harbour Alternative Proposal
Design: ADAM Architecture
Poole Harbour
Website: Arts University Bournemouth : AUB, Dorset
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