Opportunity
The University of Zadar faced a number of challenges in relation to its future growth, as Croatia sought to increase the number of students at university to be closer to levels in EU countries.
The university's core activities lay in social sciences and humanities, but national and regional priorities drove it to introduce new programs in natural and technical sciences.
Physical conditions at the university increasingly hindered its development. Lack of space and equipment were constraints for both the expansion into new fields of science and maintaining high-quality teaching in existing fields of expertise.
Solution
Mott MacDonald provided a feasibility study that included a cost-benefit analysis, institutional and operational analysis, and environmental and social impact assessments. Following this, a conceptual design and design brief for the main design phase of the project was prepared.
Outcome
The university's learning resource center will provide a facility incorporating existing departmental libraries and the Science Library run by the City of Zadar, which is a legal deposit library.
To accommodate an increased number of students, the campus will include accommodation and catering facilities, which can be used throughout the year by organizing summer schools and other academic events for national and international visitors.