LUXEMBOURG LEARNING CENTRE

Description

The Luxembourg Learning Center (LLC) was developed on the former industrial site of Esch-Belval and within the steel framework of the old „Möllerei“ in the immediate vicinity of the blast furnaces.

The LLC is developed within the skeleton of the former “Möllerhalle”, serving for decades as storage hall to iron ore, sinter and lime, waiting to be transported over the so-called “skip” towards the blast furnaces in order to gain the desired steel. The obsolete core of the building was removed and the outer skin was dismantled. In their ensemble, the LLC and the neighbouring industrial fragments of the blast furnaces become leading element of the new urban design, answering to the topology of the east-west slope with a two-storey building.

In order to encourage interaction and communication the LLC follows a horizontal organization. Three solitary structures, Organs, reveal the functions: entrance hall and conference room, consultation and working surfaces, administration, including book packaging workshops and stores, cafeteria.

The LLC’s main entrance is located in the immediate vicinity of the Place des Hauts Fourneaux. The LLC is an enfilade of large open space volumes, accessible to the public and developing over five levels, giving the impression of flying plateaus around the ore silo, at the foot of blast furnace B. The old structures have been cleaned, reinforced and repainted, thus preserving all traces of the building's past activity.

A multitude of glass hexagons constitute the new envelop to the remaining steel framework of the “Möllerhalle”. The construction of the building envelope and its complex geometry was made possible by the use of a highly innovative construction technique from shipbuilding. Another special feature is the screen-printed glass, which provides a dual function of protection against the sun by reducing heating and glare. The variable intensity of the silkscreen printing gives the building, seen from the outside a marbled effect. From the inside, the façade is more transparent with a play of open and opaque triangular surfaces.

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