On 19 October 2015 there was the grand opening of the European Centre for Geological Education, the University of Warsaw in Chęciny near Kielce (ECEG), for which Dyckerhoff Poland, the Nowiny Plant delivered concrete mixtures, including ordinary concrete construction concrete, coloured concrete and mortar.

The uniqueness of the facility was appreciated by the jury of the International Property Awards. The authors of the project, the studio WXA in September in London received the prestigious Best Public Service Architecture Poland (the title of the best public building in Poland). Additionally, the project WXCA, as highly scored, was nominated to represent the continent of Europe in the next stage of the competition.

Here are a few words about the project:

The construction of buildings started in June 2014 and ended in July 2015. The Centre stands on the site of the former quarry Korzecko on Mount Rzepka. The five buildings of similar size and height, are interconnected with storey transitions. Architects from studio WXCA (leading architect was Mr. Krzysztof Budzisz), who developed the design of the building, tried to integrate it into the surroundings. The five buildings connected with each storey corridors include, among others assembly hall and canteen in the main part, studios and classrooms in the laboratory and teaching part, and accommodation of various standards in other buildings. The attention of visitors is attracted to a conference room, where the walls are integrated into the terrain, or quarry – the uncovered rocks can be admired by more than 240 people at the same time. The net usable area of buildings is almost 6.4 thousand square meters. The main source of heating and cooling for buildings are heat pumps with a ground heat exchanger. The brine is made up of 91 wells to 120 meters deep. Additionally, the support of water heating is done with a solar installation. The facility in 90% uses its power from renewable energy sources: geothermal energy and solar energy. One of the design challenges was to merge the object in a unique space exploited quarry. It has been achieved using both local materials such as limestone excavated during the construction of the facility buildings, as well as local xerothermic vegetation on roofs and the facility surroundings.

Links

brief report on the opening ceremony 
design office 
film about ECEG