The Construction Laboratory, Cyprus International University, Nicosia 

The Construction Lab at the Cyprus International University in Nicosia, Cyprus. 

At the very edge of the campus, this building is, in many ways, an accumulation of its surroundings.

The natural elements of space are one of the key aspects taken into account in the design. 

To harmonize the building with the adjacent landscape, we wanted to establish a connection with the ground by softening up the edge of the campus with the agricultural fields.

You may be able to see echoes of the topographical features in the shape and make of the structure. As the building crawls up from the south towards the north, hard and soft landscape composition by blurring the boundaries between the planes along the fringe of the building with the actual structure. In addition to this, it also carries all of the functional elements of the interior spaces onto the outer surface. 

This design generates an experimental space between the roof, which has been treated as a landscape, and the actual ground where laboratories and classrooms are located. 

The building works a lab for students and staff from all different engineering backgrounds, like Civil Engineering, Mechanical, Energy, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, to carry out their research and graduation projects. So, a lot of different materials are brought in for experimentation. 

The most unique aspect of this building is that the materials that the students and staff are engaging with are what actually make up the building itself, playing on the relationship between the inside - outside as interchangeable beings. 

The laboratories are strategically positioned on the ground floor, enabling easy access for delivery of heavy machinery and aggregates/materials where the asphalt, concrete, hydraulics, and other materials will be tested. The lectures take place in the insulated first-floor classrooms.

By expressing the raw materiality and assemblage technicality, the building exposes the true nature of its make up (and of its construction methodology) which is what the Construction Laboratory Building is all about.