The developers behind Aarhus’ new University City: “We decided to go all in. Otherwise we’ll regret it 20 years from now”

It’s a rainy day, and the City Auditorium is buzzing with life.

The foyer is packed with students – chatting over their lunches, lost in a book, taking a coffee break; shaking off raindrops or on their way up the stairs to a lecture. 

And standing in the middle of the round glass building soaking in the atmosphere are the three project owners who made all this possible. 

There’s still a month to go until the official opening of Aarhus’ newest neighbourhood,but it feels like the University City has already found its own rhythm, even though the builders still have a lot of minor details to finish before the opening celebrations at the end of May. 

“I couldn’t possibly imagine a greater success than what we see here today,” says Brian Bech Nielsen, rector of Aarhus University, after putting his umbrella away and finding a nice spot to sit along with his two companions.

The other project owners nod in agreement.

“I hope that no idiot ever comes along in the future and changes things,” laughs Jørgen Lang, director of the Aarhus University Research Foundation. Carsten Kronborg, director of the property company FEAS, sums up the whole transformation: 

“Back in the day, you only ever came up here if you had business at the old municipal hospital. Now we’ve opened up the area to the outside world.”

115,000 m2 with a single stroke of the pen

The big transformation began ten years ago, when Central Denmark Region sold the municipal hospital grounds and buildings to FEAS in connection with the expansion of the hospital in Skejby.

As a consequence of the DKK 800 million deal, FEAS – whose mission is to support the university’s development of the Aarhus campus – acquired 115,000 m2 with a stroke of the pen, which instantly doubled its portfolio in Denmark’s second-largest city.

“If we hadn’t taken it over, something else would have been built. So we had to make our move. “That’s why we bought the whole property without knowing whether the university would ever need that much extra space,” explains Jørgen Lang from the research foundation, the parent company of FEAS. 

The acquisition was a natural consequence of how decentralised the university had become over the preceding years. 

“We saw an opportunity to create a more cohesive campus and in this way bring our researchers and students closer together. Creativity emerges out of encounters between people. This is where new ideas come from,” Bech Nielsen explains. 

Something for everyone to explore

In 2016, the university only had definite plans for about one-third of the property, so the the vision for the new development quickly grew to include other needs and ambitions. 

And the developers who had taken over Aarhus’ former hospital wanted to give something back: to make it a space for the local community as well as the university – including evenings and weekends.

So the plans developed by the architectural firm AART devoted plenty of space to student housing, commercial units, cafés, pedestrian areas, green spaces and squares and a state-of-the-art auditorium, driven by an ambition to transform the area into a new neighbourhood and an inviting shortcut through this part of Aarhus. 

For the same reason, the developers also decided to make the area car-free.

“Building underground car parks isn’t exactly cheap, you know. But we decided to go all in. We agreed that we would regret it in 20 years if we didn’t,” Lang says. The redevelopment project started in 2019; when it’s completed (in 2023, according to plan), the total cost will be close to DKK 4 billion.

The design philosophy for the project has been to renovate existing buildings as sensitively as possible to preserve the architecture and character of the area. So visitors will find lots of subtle historical references to the municipal hospital in the University City. 

“Some of the buildings date back as far as the 1890s. So there’s really a lot to explore. “Not just for architects and engineers, but for everyone else too,” say Kronborg, who served as construction and facilities director at Central Denmark Region as well as executive project director for the construction of the new university hospital in Skejby before joining FEAS in 2021. 

Life and activity after hours

Lunchtime is almost over. 

The foyer starts emptying out as students leave to make their way to a lecture on the first floor, where there’s a lecture hall with room for 800 people and a screen the size of a double-decker bus.

Like the university’s other venues, the City Auditorium will also host events of interest to the general public, like the political debates hosted by TV 2 Østjylland in the building ahead of the general election in March. 

“And we also have what might just be one of the very best event venues in the whole city right on our doorstep, with a staircase that’s kind of like the Spanish steps in Rome to sit on. “I’m looking forward to the first concerts out there,” Bech Nielsen say, looking out at the square through the window.

However, attracting people to special events here in the University City is one thing. Bringing life to the area during the week is a different matter, Lang says: 

“There was an American professor who found it odd that Danish campuses are so quiet after 5 pm. “His theory was that people go home after the last café has closed,” says the director of the foundation, who would like to give the area an international vibe.

HM King Frederik to cut the ribbon

The challenge the University City faces in this respect is that there are laws to prevent the university from unfair competition with the private sector; in any case, the university isn’t interested in poaching customers from the shops in Trøjborg, which are just a stone’s throw away. 

So opening supermarkets, retain shops and restaurants in the University City is out of the question. But it might be possible to let the student cafés stay open longer, install grab-and-go vending machines and make room for a bicycle repair shop or a second-hand shop.

“Of course, we also have a corner where there will often be something going on in the evenings. Namely the Kitchen, Partnerhuset and Makerspace,” Kronborg adds, referring to the new hubs for entrepreneurship, external collaboration and technical experimentation on the north side of the University City. 

“Yes, you really feel it when you come to visit – the atmosphere is completely different. “I often pop over there when the professors get a bit too dry,” Bech Nielsen laughs.

His walks take the rector through the passageways beneath Nørrebrogade, where the yellow bricks of the University Park are interwoven with the red bricks of the University City to create a new harmony.

This harmony will be put on display in the most official way possible when HM King Frederik – who studied political science at Aarhus University – cuts the ribbon to mark the opening of the University City at an official inauguration ceremony on 21 May.

The following day, the whole town is invited to a spectacular street party featuring concerts and guided tours.

“Aarhus is a young city. This creates a unique energy that even the chronologically challenged among us feel. We’re surrounded by students chatting and hanging out, so we feel like we’re part of that. That’s a feeling I really hope the University City can keep.”