Overview: Activities related to the University City construction project

The groundbreaking ceremony for Aarhus BSS in the University City will take place on 20 April 2022. This will signal the official start to the construction of the new buildings for the Department of Management and the Department of Economics and Business Economics, including 37,000 square metres of study and teaching facilities as well as a large round lecture theatre for 800 people.

Concurrently with the construction work, a number of planning activities are still being carried out. These include specific decisions on the design, layout and technology of the new premises. Nanna Calmar Andersen has taken up the position as the project manager for the construction project at Aarhus BSS as of 1 January 2022 and will be responsible for looking after the school’s interests in the University City. Her areas of responsibility also include tasks in relation to the physical environment at Aarhus BSS in general. She says:

“The relocation is an exciting, large-scale project, and there are a lot of different tasks to coordinate. Internally at Aarhus BSS as well as in our external collaboration with partners at Aarhus University, Forskningsfondens Ejendomsselskab and the turnkey contractor. Right now, our top priority is to ensure that the input we received from students and employees during the user involvement process back in the autumn is put into practice in the plans and actual buildings, as far as this is possible and in accordance with the prioritisation made by the steering committee for the project.”

Three phases of the Aarhus BSS construction project

On a new timeline, employees at Aarhus BSS can gain an overview of the activities from 2022 and until the school moves into its new buildings in summer 2025.

There are three important phases during this period:

• A specification phase in spring 2022, during which the overall building plans will be defined in more detail.
• A construction phase from April 2022 to June 2025, during which the construction work is carried out while specific plans for the interior design, allocation of rooms, furniture and similar are drawn up.
• A relocation phase in summer 2025 when the two departments will move and start to use the new facilities, which is expected to happen in time for the commencement of studies.

See the timeline of activities here.

From kitchenettes to lines of sight

During all the phases, the school will continue to involve relevant users to qualify the many decision in the project.

Previous user involvement has included a broad consultation process in autumn 2018. In addition, when the winner of the contract to construct the new buildings was announced in spring 2021, a series of workshops were held for the departments in question.

The workshops resulted in input on the placement of offices, input on the functionality and extent of facilities such as kitchenettes, a teaching perspective on the technology and lines of sights in the large lecture theatre for 800 people, as well as a discussion of the large outdoor area surrounding the lecture theatre.

“It is great to see employees and students contribute to the discussion of the new facilities. The user perspectives are some of our best tools in looking after our interests during the construction,” Nanna Calmar Andersen points out.

In connection with the construction project and relocation, Aarhus BSS will also consider how to best utilise its different areas – both in relation to an optimal use of the available square metres in the new buildings as well as in relation to the utilisation of the school’s joint facilities across Nørrebrogade.

Part of the University City as a whole

The construction of new buildings for Aarhus BSS in the University City is only one of many projects that are part of Aarhus University’s ongoing upgrade to Campus 2.0.

“When you look at the area that is currently under development and which will become the University City, you are looking at a number of different construction projects at once. The Aarhus BSS buildings form an independent project, which has had its own call for tenders and will receive its own visual identity. However, the project is aligned with the master plan for the University City as a whole, meaning that a common thread will join together the architecture of the entire area,” says Nanna Calmar Andersen.

The University City will also include student housing and be home to AU IT, The Kitchen and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics – the latter has already moved to its new facilities. And as early as spring 2022, the northern passage under Nørrebrogade is expected to open to pedestrians and cyclists.

See a map of the entire University City here.

Read more

• See a timeline of the Aarhus BSS construction project in the University City
• See a map of all the new locations in the University City
• Find more information at AU’s website on Campus 2.0
• Read about the University City: How the new site for Aarhus BSS is to be developed