University of Southern Denmark – Campus Kolding

With its triangular shape, Campus Kolding stands out as a landmark in the city center. Yet, its real magic unfolds from the inside. The building challenges traditional planning of educational institutions by moving learning into the heart of the campus, away from long corridors and closed classrooms. The dynamic atrium allows students to choose between varied learning environments and study places. Campus Kolding has become a role model for Henning Larsen’s design of educational institutions in Denmark and world-wide.

Learning Environment of the Future

Campus Kolding is a state-of-the-art learning environment, supporting a variety of different learning situations, new teaching methods, and a high degree of flexibility.

Each floor level is organized to promote interaction between teachers, researchers, and students, while also ensuring areas for quiet reflection and concentration.

The researchers' offices and administration are located on the top floors, and the auditorium is found on the ground floor. By giving all users a reason to visit all floors, we have maximized the number of interfaces and fulfilled the vision of creating a powerhouse for knowledge and learning.

Per Krogh Hansen, Head of the Department of Design and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark:

"When people come into the building through the main entrance, they always stop right there. You can see their eyes following the columns all the way up to the roof, giving them that 'wow' feeling."

Low-Energy University

The building is a manifestation of distinctive, innovative architecture. However, while form and function are in a class apart, the energy consumption of the campus is moreover so low that the building is classified in Energy Class 1.

This makes Campus Kolding Denmark's – and one of the world's – first low-energy universities.

In addition to minimizing the energy consumption for lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation, the sustainability strategy has optimized the passive characteristics of the building. This means that its shape and structure alone replace some of the solutions that would otherwise require energy-intensive technology. This has resulted in an energy consumption of just 48 kWh/m²/year, equivalent to 20-25 percent of consumption in similar buildings.

Interiors and Wayfinding

With a new building for the University of Southern Denmark, we found an opportunity to create a collaborative learning space down to the finest details. From custom sofas to a proprietary typeface, the new building stands as a model for future academic spaces.

Attention to detail means matching fonts to furniture. Our design for the University of Southern Denmark’s Design and Communications includes macro and micro scale – Not only designing the building itself, but the furnishings, typography and wayfinding system within. In the central five-story atrium, clusters of students study in custom-designed booths, created from feedback from university students and faculty alike.

Students pass between classes by way of our custom-designed wayfinding system, incorporating iconography and an original typeface intended to reflect the school’s physical form and a playful sense of graphic creativity. The building carries its identity through the curves of its custom typeface to the clean lines of its central atrium, establishing a comprehensive aesthetic through gestures both grand and small.