Bureau C. F. Møller and Transform have won the competition for the renovation of the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) campus. The challenge was simple: to create the best campus in the world.
Copenhagen Business School is the main business university in Denmark and, with 20,000 students, it ranks as the second largest in Europe. Designing a campus for this important educational institution, the architects tried to intertwine urban and student life and combine them into a holistic complex, transforming the infrastructure of both the university and the adjacent territories of the Fredericksburg district.
The elongated campus is pierced by a main pedestrian path: along it, at the intersection of the university space with the city space, it is planned to create four main points of attraction, ranging from a classic square around a transport hub to an informal park in the center of the campus. A parallel motorway in the south and a bicycle road in the north connect the campus to the city's road network.
Densifying existing developments, new mixed-use green roof structures are being built very compactly to leave as much space as possible for social events. The basic principle of the internal planning of new and reconstructed buildings is the possibility of easy transformation of premises to the needs of the inhabitants.
In general, the project is aimed at preserving and enhancing the natural qualities of the existing landscape: “a place where everyone can find a place” becomes the “green heart” of the city, where there are reservoirs, hanging gardens and lecture halls with panoramic views of the park.
Fredericksburg has traditionally played the role of a science center for the Danish capital, and the new campus should not only strengthen this position, but also create an urban structure that, according to the architects' plan, "can be compared with Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge." According to Julian Weyer, partner at C. F. Møller, the architects sought to develop a strategy according to which the entire West could develop in the future: "The campus should be thoughtful, compact, creative, diverse, individual and work closely with the city and its inhabitants."
The timing of the project is still unknown: the construction of the world's best campus depends on significant external funding, which the university is currently looking for.
