Innovation, inspiration and exploration in study rooms, Innovation Labs and conference centres merge in this inviting building
In offices, study rooms, labs, practice rooms and the library, coffee bar and atrium, professionals and students meet each other. In this melting pot of disciplines, knowledge development, knowledge sharing and innovations come about.
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Nijmegen is the location of this vibrant new venue for researchers, students, conference attendees and employees of Radboudumc. In an innovative way, previously unused outdoor space has been transformed into the calling card for the academic centre, with the existing building also being renovated. In this central location on the new campus, this has become the meeting place for learning, innovating and connecting.
Social hub full of encounters
Spread over five floors, training, learning and innovation are interwoven throughout the centre. Through the main entrance on Geert Grooteplein, you walk past the Innovation Park directly to the new covered inner courtyard. It is one level lower and is accessible via a spacious, inclined disc-shaped seating and walking staircase. The staircase serves as an ideal tribune for entertainment and gatherings on the square.
Seeing and being seen provides the right chance encounters that lead to creativity. With its many adjoining functions and a height of 12 metres, the atrium is an inviting and pleasant living space, and the functional and social hub of the building. From the cosy coffee bar and swinging balconies, you can look out over the activity on the square. The Experience Center accommodates a conference-theatre hall, meeting and conference rooms, lecture and teaching rooms, a clinical training centre, skills & simulation labs, a study room 2.0, an extensive library and the Innovation Park. The latter is a creative breeding ground where various Health Innovation Labs have found their place and work together on sustainable healthcare of the future.
The building is a catalyst for innovation ... it is the showcase of the hospital
Iris Hobo, Radboudumc Design Manager
Made to innovate
The Experience Center is centrally located on the campus, directly between the characteristic castle Huize Heijendaal, opposite the main entrance and in front of the visitor car park located under Geert Grooteplein. This unique location has been used to shape the connecting role of education, research, innovation and encounter. The transformation has given the existing building a welcoming openness and a sleek and modern interior and exterior. Within, all installations and facilities have been replaced with the latest technical and digital innovations with state-of-the-art presentation and AV equipment.
The extension has both increased the surface area and, in particular, brought dynamism and creativity into the building. The new wavy facade incorporates the detached theater into the building. At the same time, the previously unused outdoor space has been covered and transformed into the new heart of the building, a dynamic place for meeting and festive gatherings. Through the continuous glass facade, there is always a view of the campus and inside, and the stately Huize Heijendaal is almost within reach. That 'castle of Jurgens' watches over the innovations of the future, and inspires.
Fly through the Experience Center with the drone video
Learning everywhere
Students meet each other throughout the building: accidentally, at the coffee bar or on the tribune staircase, at one of the many informal workspaces, or officially during a lesson or practical simulation. There they meet professionals from the field who give or attend a symposium or training in one of the conference and meeting rooms. This creates interaction and mutual inspiration.
Vibrant campus
The Experience Center is ready for the future, in which collaboration to learn and innovate is essential. You experience this collaboration and encounter throughout the building. This makes the center an important part of the renewed academic campus within the Radboudumc Masterplan. This plan runs until 2030, when after the commissioning of the new Main Building (2022), the demolition of dozens of buildings and the construction of a new connecting landscape, the campus will shine in full glory.
Experience Center was realised in collaboration with designers Suzanne Holtz Studio (interior) and Copijn (landscape), advisors Deerns, Aronsohn, DVP and Peutz, and Cornelissen (main contractor).
Awards
Architectuurprijs Nijmegen 2021 – Nomination – Jury award and Public award
Photography: Scagliola + Brakkee
video: (c)Radboudumc