K E A Q u a r t e r ly
Fe a t u r e
t h e n ew h ea rt o f n ø r r e b ro “At the new Empire Campus , students are
co-creators of the experience . When you
Myriad lives and stories, flexible walls and high-tech auditoria: all part of the ambitious vision for KEA’s new campus, which students are helping to shape.
text Marlene Toldbod Jakobsen photography Anne Mie Dreves
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omething big is happening between Nørrebrogade and Guldbergsgade in an old, red industrial building sandwiched between Assistens Cemetery’s yellow wall on one side and the ‘Coming Soon’ posters of the Empire Cinema on the other. It is not visible from the outside, but the dust begins to tickle your nostrils as soon as you begin climbing the stairs to the first floor. Off-white debris covers the normally black concrete floor, where clear footprints cross in all directions between isolated piles of stone wool. Rows of large windows stand against the walls, waiting to be installed, and bulky silver ventilation
systems lined with cables hang from the ceiling. The smokestack here at number 29 once funnelled the machine factory’s smoke out over the streets of Nørrebro; it is one of Copenhagen’s historic landmarks and must therefore be preserved. But nearly everything else will have been rebuilt by the time KEA’s new campus is completed in late 2013. The creative forces behind the project are dreaming of a small revolution on Nørrebro’s busy streets. “At the new Empire Campus, students are co-creators of the experience,” says Patrick Coard, a Architectural Technology and Construction Management graduate from KEA and
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enter the campus, you encounter a changing environment that invites students and citizens of all ages to participate actively” – Patrick Coard talking about the new KEA Campus.
now creative consultant on the project. “When you enter the campus, you encounter a changing environment that invites students and citizens of all ages to participate actively.” The new KEA Empire Campus will also mean more than just new facilities. It represents the dream of breaking the traditional boundaries of what an educational institution is. “We don’t want an authoritarian institution that decides what everything looks like in advance and where the buildings are empty after two o’ clock in the afternoon,” says KEA communications consultant Louise Grane. “We want to be a part of Nørrebro and help to create a good framework, and experiences
for students and the local population.” This was the very mindset of resource director Jesper Rasmussen when he fell for the deserted industrial buildings. Even though space is somewhat cramped, the decision to create a new campus felt right. “Students and teachers will be able to decide how best to use the space,” he says. “For example, there will be flexible walls for optimising the use of space depending on the need for large or small rooms. The bustling everyday activity of the KEA Empire Campus will epitomise its identity.” KEA’s students have been involved throughout the project’s process, especially students in the Architectural Technology and Construction Management programmes and the energy technologist students, who all wrote term papers about the new campus. “We chose this project for the students because it seemed obvious that they should be a part of developing solutions for the buildings they will soon be using,” says Charlotte Møller, head of studies for the Architectural Technology and Construction Management programme. Many of the students subsequently
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chose to dedicate their summer holiday to become more involved in the creation of the new campus and leave a mark on their future place of study. Just as with the external surroundings, the facilities reflect openness, creativity and variability. Students will be able to immerse themselves in Scandinavia’s largest materials library, Material Connexion, supplied by the company of the same name whose headquarters are in New York. Other features of the campus include a high-tech auditorium with 3D projection capabilities, various design studios, model workshops, industrial rooms and a wide range of workspaces. It is every bit as ambitious as it sounds. Even though many aspects of the project could change between now and its scheduled completion in late 2013, Jesper Rasmussen says that the scope of ambition for it will remain high. “The new Empire Campus will be KEA’s centre of excellence. Here we will gather all of our programmes, making the campus a hub for KEA as a whole and for our many partners in the business community. When it all comes together, the result will hopefully be ‘outside the box’ – just the way we want it.”