The University City under development: ground broken on 37,000 m2 project

The ground has just been broken on one of the anchor structures on the new University City campus. The heart of Aarhus BSS’ new complex will be a lecture hall that seats 800; there will also be facilities for both researchers and students – and not least plenty of common spaces for mingling and networking.

And precisely encouraging interaction between and among students and researchers is one of the decisive benefits of the campus-based university, stressed Rector Brian Bech Nielsen:

“Knowledge is developed and transformed in the encounter between disciplines and ideas. This is why it’s so important for the university to provide high-quality, inspiring spaces that promote and support such encounters, and we’re definitely getting that here.”

In addition to the lecture hall, the complex will include a number of other buildings with well-designed, flexible teaching and study spaces featuring a variety of sustainable technical solutions.

Focus on visibility and collaboration

Students and staff at Aarhus BSS’ Department of Economics and Business Economics and Department of Management, currently located at the Fuglesangs Allé campus, will move into the new complex in 2025. The new location at the heart of the University City will bring both departments closer to Aarhus BSS’ other programmes in the University Park.  Thomas Pallesen, dean of Aarhus BSS, explained:

“This location in the middle of the University City will enable Aarhus BSS to strengthen the interaction of both our students and researchers with the rest of the faculty and the university, as well as our external partners.”

Strengthening collaboration with external partners is a central mission of the University City, and not just for Aarhus BSS: 10,000 m2 at the northern end of the new campus have been earmarked for R&D divisions from larger companies, organisations, foundations and SMEs that collaboration with Aarhus University.

See a visualisation of the project here, and read more about AU’s physical development at au.dk/nycampus.

FACTS

The University City

• The University City covers a total of 110,000 km², which will primarily be used for university purposes – but there will also be room for housing, businesses and urban life in and around the red buildings.
• The aim is to create an attractive and vibrant university city with student life and activities around the clock – an open and inviting meeting place where the boundaries between city and institution, between student life and everyday life merge.
• The University City is closely connected with the University Park by three passages under Nørrebrogade – one already exists, and two new ones are on the way.
• The Kitchen, AU’s new entrepreneurship hub, has already moved into the University City, along with the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, to be followed by AU IT on 1 May. 132 units of new student housing will be ready for their first occupants this summer.
• Forskningsfondens Ejendomsselskab A/S (FEAS) is behind the University City development; Aarhus University will be FEAS’ primary tenant.

Aarhus BSS in the University City

• The new complex will be contain flexible teaching and study environments characterised by efficient use of space, high-quality architecture and sustainable technical solutions.
• One of the first (and largest) buildings to be completed will be a large lecture hall that seats 800. In addition to its main function as teaching facilities, the lecture theatre will also be used for external events such as conferences and symposia.
• The auditorium will be a rotunda in glass and aluminium.
• Wood will be a recurring material in the buildings’ architectural expression, and classrooms and study areas will be developed for multiple purposes.
• The building is aimed at a DGNB gold certification – on a par with the pre-certification that has been achieved for the entire University City as an urban area. The certification is based on an assessment of a wide range of factors related to the environment, finances and social conditions.