MORE ABOUT : Studentenwohnheim – Copenhagen, Denmark

Architect: Lundgaard & Tranberg (Copenhagen)
Engineer: Peter Bjersing, COWI
Landscape Architect: Marianne Levinsen Landscape

Studentenwohnheim is a student residence hall located in Ørestad, Copenhagen (near the campus of the University of Copenhagen). On the ground floor, students find workshops, computer rooms, laundry rooms and other communal facilities. On the upper floors, student rooms are laid out in groups of 12, forming natural “dwelling groups”. Each dwelling group has common rooms, a shared kitchen, and a large balcony overlooking the central courtyard.

View of the block communal areas facing the inner courtyard

View of community kitchen (window overlooking inner courtyard)

Structure

Section Details (Courtyard Side)

Section Details (City Side)

Though it would seem logical to use a lightweight steel structure to accommodate the many cantilevered sections of this building, the primary structural system used was precast concrete. The floor and roof construction consist of a thin concrete slab (80 mm lightweight concrete) on prefabricated steel beams (340/200 mm steel I-beam) mounted between precast concrete walls.

As seen in the courtyard side section, the roof consists of a bed of gravel on top of two-layer thermal insulation, intermediate plastic sealant, and 200 mm of reinforced concrete.

The cantilevered common sections (45 overall) required an innovative construction method. Taken from the building procedure of bridges, the contractor created two-story, horizontally prestressed and precast wall elements (250 mm reinforced concrete) with notches. Each piece fit into the piece preceding it and was fixed in place with a high-tensile steel cable (shown below).

To counteract this weight pulling the building in on itself, 65 high-strength steel cables were attached to the circular external basement wall (shown below), and anchor bars at the top of the wall secure the structure into the limestone foundation about 15 meters below grade.

Process for wall construction

Locations of supporting high-tensile steel cables

(Source: “Studentenwohnheim in Kopenhagen.” DETAIL 48 (2008): 952-967. Print.)