The newly built Supply Centre is an important step within the intended renewal of the core areas of the University near to the historic city centre of Aachen.
The Supply Centre is to provide heat and cold, emergency power and district heating to the building in its surrounding. A second function is to provide spaces for learning, teaching and communication.
The spot is determined by buildings representing the Identity of the RWTH as a high-tech orientated University - the so called Super C - as well as important places and buildings of student life - libraries, cafes, canteens and lecture halls.
The Master plan's central theme is to create an urban open space, a so called campus park. In this context it is necessary to create new axes as wells as connect and underline the established axes of student and university life. Always with the goal to improve the flow of students and university staff in this core area.
The plain for the Supply Centre is opposite to the new main canteen. Especially the narrow sides are becoming important for the Gestalt of this new urban space.
The challenge has been to combine those at first sight contrary types of use. Doing so the unenlivened supply centre is ready to be integrated in this overwhelming busy spot.
The change from open areas to closed volumes within the building's structure is turning the tensions arising from the very contrary functions of the building inside out.
The rough concrete surfaces, which stay visible inside and outside are contrast to the transparent faces, that separate in- and outside.
The decomposition in two corpuses can be seen as reference to the heterogeneous surrounding.
This structure is building bridges between new and renewal and by this picking up the main idea of the master plan.