Way Cooler (And Greener) Than Your College Dorm
Your college dorm was a boring, rectangular cinder block building. The Tietgen Dormitory (Tietgenkollegiet) in Copenhagen, Denmark — one of the five greenest cities in the world – is anything but. Designed by the architects at Lundgaard & Tranberg as an urban response to the academic context, the Tietgan was envisioned as “a bold architectural statement” in a newly planned area. Its circular form, “a symbol of equality and the communal” is contrasted by its projecting volumes, which delineate the dorm’s individual residences.
This 288,000-square-foot, seven-story building makes extensive use of natural daylighting; all rooms face outward, offering every residence views of the surrounding landscape. (Every room either has a French window or a balcony.) The buildings is heated via in-floor, radiant heat, ensuring that students stay warm and comfortable during Denmark’s cold winter months. These green elements conspire to help the building keep its energy and fuel usage to a minimum, in keeping with Copenhagen’s green-building-as-mainstream profile.
- image via Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter
The dorm was constructed in seven stories that encircle one big, planted courtyard in the center.
Every room here comes complete with its own shower and toilet — a fact anyone who had to share facilities in college will no doubt appreciate. The building features a total of 30 kitchens, each of which comes complete with four fridges and two stoves. On the ground floor, you’ll find common facilities, including a bike room, two music rooms, a gym, a computer room, a study room, an assembly hall, and an outdoor area for basketball and other sports.
Another key featuring distinguishing this dorm, located in the district of Ørestad: a sewing workshop, a bike workshop, and a woodworking workshop.
Tietgenkollegiet is a gift from Nordea-fonden, which, at the turn of the millennium, decided that they wanted to build the “residence hall of the future.”
