Maersk Building for University of Copenhagen by C.F. Møller

In 2010, C. F. Møller Architects together with SLA and Rambøll, have been selected as the winners of an international competition to design an extension to the University of Copenhagen’s Panum complex. The new extension, scheduled for completion in 2014, has been designed with the aim of creating the best possible environment for modern research and teaching.

Image © C. F. Møller

The new Panum building will become a new, unique landmark for both the Nørre Campus and the city – a true Copenhagen tower.

– Mads Mandrup and Mads Møller (C. F. Møller partners)

Image © C. F. Møller

The architects also intended to create a building that will stand out, and give the entire Panum complex of the university’s Nørre Campus, a unique identity. The complex is expected to act as the generator of positive urban development in relation to the city, and its immediate neighbourhood.

Image © C. F. Møller

It must be a Danish research center with international impact – able to attract the best scientists in the world.

– Mads Mandrup and Mads Møller (C. F. Møller partners)

Image © C. F. Møller

Image © C. F. Møller

The sixteen storey Science Tower will create a focal point within the campus. The tower rests upon a series of smaller buildings which contain common functions: auditoriums, classrooms, canteen, show lab, conference rooms, and book café.

Image © C. F. Møller

One very important aspect is that that the science tower, with its location and the new forecourt on Blegdamsvej, will also enhance the profile and urban life of the entire area.

– Mads Mandrup and Mads Møller (C. F. Møller partners)

Image © C. F. Møller

The new social hub of the complex will be marked by the extensive science plaza. The plaza incorporates the main entrance, and will link all functions between the new and the existing Panum complex.

Image © C. F. Møller

It has been essential for us to create a building that will be in dialogue with the district of Nørrebro. Until now, the Panum building has had the air of a large, closed-off research institution with its back turned to the city. But now, through the new extension and its link with the existing Panum complex, we will be able to open up its inner universe of dynamic and exciting research to the outside world.

– Mads Mandrup and Mads Møller (C. F. Møller partners)

Image © C. F. Møller

The two buildings will also be linked by new plazas, and internal garden spaces equipped with alcoves and seatings. The new additions will act as extensions of the offices and study rooms, as well as provide green oases to the city. The campus will be transformed into a vibrant urban park with intimate links to the surrounding city.

Image © C. F. Møller

The new building incorporates the existing colour scheme, rhythm, and gravity of the existing Panum complex. The façade features a grid storage of storey-high window fields that break up the building’s large scale.

Image © C. F. Møller

The project will be pioneering in energy usage, with Denmark’s most energy-efficient laboratories, in which waste energy from the ventilation system will be recycled in the overall energy balance of the building to a hitherto unprecedented degree.

Image © C. F. Møller

Facts:

Client: The Danish University and Property Agency
Size: 35.000 m²
Address: Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen, Denmark
Year: -2014
Architect: C. F. Møller Architects
Landscape: SLA
Engineer: Rambøll
Collaborators: aggebo&henriksen, Cenergia, Gordon Farquharson, and Innovation Lab
Awards: 1^st prize in international architectural competition, 2010

*All images and information courtesy of C.F. Møller.