A competition concept for a new campus of the Cracow University of Technology in Czyżyny. We divided the programme into three buildings – teaching, administrative and laboratory – which, together with the pergolas linking them, form a shared courtyard: the new heart of the campus.

Our point of reference was the neighbouring Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building by Witold Cęckiewicz – a steel composition of verticals and horizontals, with link bridges and a comb-like layout of courtyards. From it we derived the main axis of the scheme, which passes through the foyer of the teaching building towards a future park. The foyer is a five-storey space with a grand staircase, balconies and a block of lecture halls. The laboratory building houses halls for mechanical structures, a drone-testing arena and e-sports rooms.

The buildings have a multi-layer, ventilated glass facade with photovoltaics and greenery between the layers. Tension rods, walkways and technical gratings stay on view: the campus tells you what it is for – it is a machine for learning.