Kolding Campus of the University of Southern Denmark
As the new learning centre of excellence, Kolding Campus will house the courses in communications, design, culture and languages of the University of Southern Denmark. The building is located on the Grønborg grounds in the centre of Kolding close to the harbour, station and scenic attraction of the river. Kolding Campus will create a new central plaza by Kolding River and will thereby form a close interaction with the other educational institutions of the town, Kolding Design School and International Business College Kolding. The shape and facades of the building create a powerful dialogue between the inner life of the building and the outside observer.
The facade is an integrated part of the building and together, they create a unique and varying expression. Inside in the five floor high atrium, the displaced position of the staircases and access balconies creates a special dynamics where the triangular shape repeats its pattern in a continuous variety of positions up through the different floors. The activities open up towards the town so that the campus plaza and the interior study universe become one interconnected urban space with a green park at the back and a common recreational town plaza at the front.
The building features a number of sustainable initiatives, for instance cooling by means of water from Kolding River, mechanical low-energy ventilation and solar cells. The green areas are tied together in an ecological infrastructure, which will eventually become part of the research park.
Location: Kolding, Denmark
Client: The Danish University and Property Agency
Gross floor area: 13,700 m2
Year of construction: 2012 - 2014
Type of assignment: First prize in international competition, 2008
Landscape Architect: Kristine Jensens Tegnestue
Engineers: Orbicon