The Metropolitan Sheptytsky Center, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv

The UCU has various goals. It wants to make the university accessible to the public and at the same time serve as a role model for higher education in post-soviet Ukraine, a private university accessible to the public. The university is currently building a new campus. At the heart of this campus is the Metropolitan Sheptytsky Information Research Center, the first building of its type built in post-Soviet Ukraine. It includes a library for the humanities, academic and research spaces, and public spaces that serve the community.

From an architectural point of view, the term openness plays a major role in the design of the building. This concept is reflected in the barrierfree ground floor of the building. The reading, exhibition and conference areas as well as a café and the university bookshop are located here. The upper levels of the building are more academic in nature, with a predominantly openstack collection, various reading spaces, quiet study zones and group work rooms. Both the public and academic portions of the building are flexible spaces organized around a vertical atrium space that always affords views out to the beautiful Stryiskyi Park located adjacent to the campus.

Structure is poured-in-place concrete. Facade systems are triple glazing glass curtain wall (stair atrium and ground floor), aluminum composite panel cladding, triple glazing operable tilt-in windows with operable external shading louvers, and fixed triple glazing windows with integrated light redirecting louvers. Selected roof areas on levels 2, 4 and 5 have extensive green roofing. Floor finishes include stone tiles on the ground floor, wood flooring in the stair atrium spaces and carpet in the upper level library and office spaces. Ceiling finish is plaster coated underside of slab with reflective white paint (to enhance internal daylighting).