WUR Dialogue Centre

Our design creates space for spontaneous and organized encounters. An environment where dialogue and knowledge sharing between science and society arise almost naturally. Omnia is the perfect place for community building between researchers, students and (agricultural) companies. The new building is located on a prominent spot at the front of the WUR campus.

We wanted a transparent building as an understated eye-catcher for the dialogue of the WUR community. Thanks to the design, meeting and knowledge sharing now literally and figuratively rise above ground level. The main functions of Omnia come together in three wooden pavilions; the promotion room, the faculty club and the large hall for receptions, symposia and meetings. Impulse for dialogue The arrangement of the main hall in U-shape(dialogue) and adjacent break-out spaces provide a natural place for dialogue. Thanks to a large floor-to-ceiling glass wall, there is a wide view of the green surroundings from the hall. In this way, the dialogue is literally visible to the outside world and the connection between “outside and inside” is given an extra impulse.

The building’s roof and floor “clamp” the wooden pavilions into a single entity. The foyer provides the interconnection of the pavilions and with nature outside. Thanks to the glass facades, you feel the connection with nature in all places in the building, including the outdoor galleries along the facades with cantilevered floors. The round and flowing shapes of the wooden pavilions create a warm and natural atmosphere.

It is important that a building offers a feel for elements of nature in many ways. At Omnia we also work with many such elements and materials, including the natural stone facade and wooden pavilions. The enthusiastic reactions indicate to Erik van Eck how inspiring this works for users and visitors. “The wooden pavilions and the contact with nature outside give you a peaceful and free feeling. You can’t design more beautiful than nature as far as that is concerned, which is evident every time I design a building.”

Natural and sustainable materials make Omnia a healthy building with little to no interior emissions. Thanks to the design intent, this new place on the WUR campus is also future-proof. The building is virtually energy-neutral. The overhangs provide natural shading so it stays cool inside. And the building has an insulating green sedum roof, which also retains rainwater for storage in the large pond that runs under the building. As the fifth facade, the sedum roof also contributes to a “green view” from the taller and surrounding buildings on the WUR campus.