Dutch architect Mecanoo has won the competition to design the Senezh Management LAB, a business school to be built in the lakeside town of Solnechnogorsk, near Moscow.
Mecanoo’s winning Masterplan is represented by three pronounced functional areas: Learning zone, Park zone and Waterfront.
The heart of the scheme is the Senezh "Agora", named after the ancient marketplaces of Greece.
This combines a winter garden and student apartments, as well as lecture halls and a library under a single wooden roof.
The teaching facilities will be located under a single wooden roof
Mecanoo says the complex shape of the roof creates a "single environment, without corridors, where all spaces and activities are interconnected; a space without hierarchy where all have a voice and innovative ideas can grow".
It adds: "The complex connects and expands towards the park integrating architecture within the natural landscape, making the entire natural park a place for learning and recreation also. Wooden paths and pavilions create one strong identity and a serene atmosphere."
The project masterplan
As well as the campus itself, the development will include a range of outdoor activities in the forested park zone, which has bike paths, hiking trails and sports field, as well as a concert hall, a dance floor, open-air cinema and "pavilions of silence" for more meditative students.
Top image: The Senezh school will be located northwest of Moscow by the side of Lake Senezhskoye (Mecanoo)
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