Science tower for the Panum complex in Copenhagen, Denmark by C. F. Møller Architects

Article source: C. F. Møller Architects

Science Tower for the Panum Complex, PArt of the university of Copenhagen

Science tower and urban park in the heart of Copenhagen – the winning proposal for the extension of the Panum complex

C. F. Møller Architects, together with SLA and Rambøll, have been selected by a unanimous jury as the winners of a large and prestigious competition to design an extension to the University of Copenhagen’s Panum complex on Blegdamsvej in the heart of Copenhagen.

The extension of the Panum complex has been designed with the aim of creating the best possible environment for modern research and teaching. A parallel objective has been to create a building which will stand out as an identity-creating, sculptural linchpin for the entire Panum complex and the university’s Nørre Campus (i.e. the North Campus) as a whole. The new complex is also intended to act as the generator of a positive urban development in its immediate neighbourhood and in relation to the entire city.

Exterior View

• Architect: C. F. Møller Architects
• Name of Project: Science tower for the Panum complex
• Location: Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Client: The Danish University and Property Agency
• Size: 35.000 m²

Exterior View

• Year: 2014
• Landscape: SLA
• Engineer: Rambøll
• Collaborators: aggebo&henriksen, Cenergia, Gordon Farquharson, and Innovation Lab
• Awards: 1^st prize in international architectural competition, 2010

Science tower for the Panum complex

At sixteen storeys tall, the Science Tower will provide the complex with a unifying and dynamic focal point in a clear and readable form. But just as a tree has its root network, the tower rests upon on a series of smaller buildings which contain the common functions: the auditoriums, classrooms, canteen, show lab, conference rooms and book café. The most striking part of the root network is the extensive science plaza, which will form the new social hub of the complex. The plaza accommodates the main entrance and will serve as the main social meeting-place, linking all functions between the new and the existing Panum complex.

Interior View

The new Panum complex will have an open and outward-looking appearance, with a transparent ground floor that will help to blur the boundaries between the building and the city. The public will also be invited to visit the top of the tower, where there will be a café, lounge and viewing points.

Aerial View

Between the buildings, new plazas will arise, together with internal garden spaces equipped with alcoves and seating. These will function as an extension of the study rooms and offices, but will also add new green oases to the city. A campus thoroughfare passing through the area, together with pedestrian and cycle paths, will create a vibrant urban park with intimate links to the surrounding city.

With its organic forms, the building expresses signal power and innovation, but is also adapted to the existing Panum complex through its colour scheme, rhythm and gravity. The facade is built up in the form of a grid structure of storey-high window fields that break up the building’s large scale.

Interior View

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.

The expansion will make a significant impact in the cityscape, with a science tower which will form an identity-creating, sculptural focal point for the entire Nørre Campus. The project also includes an urban park which will benefit both the Panum building and the surrounding city.

Interior View

Unique landmark for the Nørre Campus
“The new Panum building will become a new, unique landmark for both the Nørre Campus and the city – a true Copenhagen tower,” say Mads Mandrup and Mads Møller, both of whom are partners in C. F. Møller Architects.

“It must be a Danish research center with international impact – able to attract the best scientists in the world.”
The new Panum complex is part of a major co-ordinated initiative by the Danish University and Property Agency and the University of Copenhagen, based on a recently published strategy to create a new, dense urban campus, the Nørre Campus, which will bring together natural sciences and health sciences. The aim is to link the university more closely with the business community and the surrounding city, and to create modern facilities and a clear identity. Lyt

The project, which was selected by a unanimous jury as the winners of the competition, is made by C. F. Møller Architects in co-operation with Rambøll and SLA, and together with the following consultants: aggebo&henriksen, Cenergia, Gordon Farquharson and Innovation Lab.

Model 01

Science tower and urban park

At sixteen storeys tall, the Science Tower will provide the complex with a unifying and dynamic focal point in a clear and readable form. But just as a tree has its root network, the tower rests upon on a series of smaller buildings which contain the common functions: the auditoriums, classrooms, canteen, show lab, conference rooms and book café. The most striking part of the root network is the extensive science plaza, which will form the new social hub of the complex. The plaza accommodates the main entrance and will serve as the main social meeting-place, linking all functions between the new and the existing Panum complex.

Model 02

The new Panum complex will have an open and outward-looking appearance, with a transparent ground floor that will help to blur the boundaries between the building and the city. The public will also be invited to visit the top of the tower, where there will be a café, lounge and viewing points.

Between the buildings, new plazas will arise, together with internal garden spaces equipped with alcoves and seating. These will function as an extension of the study rooms and offices, but will also add new green oases to the city. A campus thoroughfare passing through the area, together with pedestrian and cycle paths, will create a vibrant urban park with intimate links to the surrounding city.

Model 03

An inviting construction
“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,” say C.F. Møller partners Mads Mandrup and Mads 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.”

Model 04

With its organic forms, the building expresses signal power and innovation, but is also adapted to the existing Panum complex through its colour scheme, rhythm and gravity. The facade is built up in the form of a grid structure of storey-high window fields that break up the building’s large scale.

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.

C. F. Møller Architects Partners

C. F. Møller Architects

C. F. Møller Architects is a partnership owned and managed by Julian Weyer, Mads Mandrup, Tom Danielsen, Anna Maria Indrio, Klavs Hyttel, Lars Kirkegaard, Lone Wiggers, Mads Møller, and Klaus Toustrup.

C. F. Møller Architects is one of Scandina­via’s oldest and largest architectural practices. Our work involves a wide range of expertise that covers programme analysis, town planning, master plan­ning, all architectural services including landscape architecture, as well as the development and design of building components.

Site Diagram

Simplicity, clarity and unpretentiousness, the ideals that have guided our work since the practice was established in 1924, are continually re-interpreted to suit individual projects, always site-specific and based on international trends and regional characteristics.

Over the years, we have won a large number of national and international competitions and awards. Our work has been exhibited locally as well as inter­nationally at places like RIBA in London, the Venice Biennale, the Danish Architecture Centre and the Danish Cultural Institute in Beijing.

Sketch

A COMMON ARCHITECTURAL GOAL | C. F. Møller Ar­chitects was founded by the now deceased Prof. C. F. Møller. Today the firm is a limited company, owned by nine partners: Tom Danielsen, Klavs Hyttel, Anna Maria Indrio, Lars Kirkegaard, Mads Mandrup, Mads Møller, Klaus Toustrup, Julian Weyer and Lone Wiggers. The partnership undertakes the day-to-day management and comprises the company’s board of directors.

C. F. Møller Architects has a long tradition for internal and external cooperation where all parties to a project work towards a common architectural goal. Innovation and creativity are key words in our day-to-day work, and we try to make the drawing studio an attractive workplace, in which individual members of staff will find professional challenges through projects of high quality.

Our head office is in Aarhus and we have branches in Copenhagen, Aalborg, Oslo, Stockholm and London, as well as a limited company in Iceland.

Ground Floors

Tags: Copenhagen, Denmark

Categories: Tower, University Building

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