Unlocking the power of a design metaphor to help rebuild Ukraine

A mission for designing higher education facilities

The main STU academic building in Irpin, Ukraine, was nearly destroyed in the first days after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The new building is viewed as a replacement, reflecting STU’s aspiration to become a regional and international hub for research and academic excellence. The competition brief sought a “progressive and comfortable place for learning, research, and student leisure based on innovative educational standards.” It also required shelter space from the ongoing conflict. The new building is the future public face of the campus—a reimagined gateway between the university and the community, a symbol of hope, and dream of a better future.

Layering place and context

We learned that Irpin is known as the “City of Parks.” But it bears the scars of war. To better understand Irpin and its context, we overlaid maps of the city’s damaged buildings, its parks, and housing types to see how the university fit in. Rather than simply replace the destroyed building in this effort to rebuild Ukraine, we reimagined it as a central gathering space, a regenerative civic and academic hub where collaboration, research, and cultural exchange can flourish.

With the layers of context in mind, we developed design responses that shaped our winning submission. Here are the four themes and design responses that informed our design solution, plus the metaphor that brought it all together. 

Theme 1: Open up the ground plane and connectivity

The existing academic building cuts the street off from the rest of the campus. Our goal was to connect the campus and city of Irpin to welcome students and the public. The idea of an open ground plane where pedestrians can move from the public arena into the university campus drove our design.

Response: Reimagine the landscape as a front door.

We reimagined the symbolic heart of the campus—the site of the former main campus building—as the Garden Gateway. It’s a place where the landscape itself becomes the front door. Rather than a structure, this open-air aperture welcomes us, connecting Irpin, the park, and the university.

The Gateway is an exterior place that people move through at least once a day. They come through to get lunch, meet their friends, or get ready for class. They can head back to the street or spend time in the forested park.

To create this space, we lifted the building off the street and made its lobby transparent. Movement along elevated walkways spanning over the opening adds vibrancy of the Gateway.

On the ground plane, the landscape is the architecture; pedestrian walkways, gentle slopes, and native plantings form a seamless transition from public to academic space. Curved walls direct visitors farther into the campus.

The Gateway puts a focus on simple, functional, and open design—core values of modern university design. It will be a powerful civic presence that invites community engagement and shared use.

Theme 2: Memorial/adaptive reuse

How important are the remnants of the neoclassical main building to the campus? Should the midcentury façade be preserved? What could be reused and how?

These were important questions we considered for the STU. These questions are relevant to the larger project of how to rebuild Ukraine.

RESPONSE: Create new memorials.

We didn’t want to leave the remaining structure in place, because it disconnected the campus from the street and the surrounding park. Rather than reuse, we opted to create a new multipurpose space for gathering that aspired to help reconnect the community.

We designed the required safety shelter, but we made it a multipurpose space with daylight. It functions as a community fitness and recreation center. And it connects to a courtyard we call the STU Community Room. It features deployable shelter walls that can be used to close off the area when needed.

Set within the ground, the STU Community Room is a terraced, multilevel courtyard. We designed it for gathering, learning, and reflection. Sloped at a gentle grade for accessibility, the space blends sculpted terrain, berms, retaining walls, and tree canopy to form an inclusive and flexible outdoor room. It’s an adaptable social landscape and supports both formal events and everyday campus and community life.

Theme 3: A dense surrounding forest

The STU campus is set amongst densely forested parks. How can our design acknowledge this connection to nature and enhance the sense of place at the STU?

Response: Create a treetop canopy.

We took inspiration from the surrounding forest. Could the architecture and building form “learn” from nature? Could its floorplates act as an extension of the natural treetop canopy?

Above the forest floor, “the Treetop Canopy” terrace offers a tranquil elevated platform for collaboration and contemplation. We designed the canopy as a shared space for informal gatherings, interdisciplinary exchange, and visionary thinking. It allows students and faculty to connect with nature while engaging in academic inquiry. It’s a place to study or meet, with stunning 360-degree views back to the campus, the city, or out to the forest.

Theme 4: Access for all

The STU competition brief prioritizes inclusivity and access to students. And this includes veterans with physical limitations.

Response: Equity and inclusivity.

Rooted in the principle of Design for All, the project is guided by a commitment to equity, inclusion, and universal accessibility.

The new STU campus is envisioned as a place where everyone—regardless of ability, age, or background—can belong, participate, and thrive. It is designed to welcome a new generation of students and remove the barriers that have prevented full participation in academic and civic life.

Accessibility is embedded at every level of the campus. Buildings, pathways, and open spaces follow universal design principles, providing ease of movement for people of all abilities.

Gentle slopes, wide circulation routes, and intuitive transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces allow for smooth, independent mobility. Tactile surfaces are used at key decision points, thresholds, and elevation changes to assist those with low vision. Interactive digital wayfinding kiosks, equipped with audio support and multilingual content, are placed at major nodes across campus.

Classrooms, public areas, and recreational spaces are designed to support diverse learning and social needs. Flexible layouts, acoustic treatments, and lighting controls allow spaces to adapt to a variety of teaching methods and sensitivities.

The effort to rebuild Ukraine should embrace universal accessibility.

From our hearts and minds

We had the bones of the idea, but it needed a spirit. We came up with an inspiring design metaphor that tied the project together and inspired the design solution. Design metaphor can be an important tool in the effort to rebuild Ukraine.

The idea of the treetop canopy led us further. What could we hang amongst the tree branches that would beckon all to this renewed place of inclusive learning? “Learning Lanterns” emerged as a visual metaphor for the building’s flexible rooms. We imagined a series of light-filled academic spaces suspended among the trees. These learning lanterns offer serene, focused environments for study, teaching, and research with organic forms inspired by the forest.

The learning lanterns feature flexible, connected lounges that allows for changing educational programs. We designed them to foster informal collaboration outside of formal academic spaces. The lanterns symbolize knowledge and possibility—calling out to the community of Irpin.

The learning lanterns metaphor informed our envelope design, choice of materials, and the building’s architectural form. To achieve a translucent effect, we used channel glass cladding with translucent insulation between layers of glass in walls to disperse daylight. For solid areas, we combined an insulated wall with channel glass cladding and integrated lighting. This allows for good thermal performance. The curtain wall features vertical fins to match the rhythm of the channeled glass. The result creates a cohesive envelope and offers dynamic lighting and stimulating views.

Setting a standard for city building

Design competitions give us the opportunity to think big. In many ways, this competition asked us to consider how to rebuild Ukraine. It invited us to think beyond a single building. It suggested we go further in creating a shared vision for rebuilding the city together with community.

Typically, when designers engage in city building (or rebuilding) they design a few buildings at a time. Designers will need to think at the city scale to rebuild Ukraine.

Being a part of a city rebuilding project is a tremendous honor and responsibility. Our design, we hope, can act as a catalyst and model for ambitious thoughtful designs to come in the effort to rebuild Ukraine. We want the STU to set a high bar for what the city of Irpin can be.