Akademiska Hus is investing SEK 272 million in a new building on Campus Umeå. The building, which is currently under the name Hus K, will meet Umeå University's need for premises for teaching, exams and offices. With its strategic and central location in the middle of the campus, Hus K will be the area's future hub.
House K is connected to Universum, Aula Nordica and Naturvetarhuset and strengthens Campus Umeå's physical identity. The 8,000 square meter building will comprise five floors and contain premises for teaching, offices, study places and a café. In House K, various examination halls are also created with room for up to 540 people, which means that Umeå University can, for the first time, gather all its examination rooms on the main campus.
- An important issue in the construction is about being able to use the premises for other activities during the periods when the need for examination rooms is low. We want to increase the utilization rate of the premises and thereby reduce our climate impact, says Richard Olsson, property manager at Umeå University.
Flexible premises for increased space utilization
In order to be able to use the premises in House K as efficiently as possible, they are given flexibility so that they can easily be converted to different activities. This means, among other things, that the examination halls can be converted into classrooms when the need increases, and conversely that classrooms can be used as examination halls during intensive examination periods. Due to the high degree of generality and user flexibility, a sustainable building is created that is future-proof over a long period of time.
- Umeå University and Akademiska Hus have ambitious sustainability goals. With a number of initiatives such as that all system choices are evaluated from a climate perspective and that the building is equipped with solar cells, we ensure that Hus K becomes a climate-smart building with a low CO2 footprint, says Peter Bohman, market area director at Akademiska Hus.
Another sustainability aspect that contributes to a reduced climate footprint is that House K was originally intended to be a larger building than what is now to be built. By collecting data and analyzing how the university's existing premises can be used even better, Akademiska Hus and Umeå University have been able to greatly reduce the original need for new production.
The start of construction of House K is planned for August 2022 and the building is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024.