Christensen & Co. Architects have created furniture for their renovation of building B116 at the Danish Technical University (DTU). Our furniture is designed to facilitate meetings between people. We know that community and co-creation play an important part in learning processes and a vibrant study environment. Therefore, we have created accommodating and timeless student units for the previously unused corridors outside the building’s auditoriums. The comfortable student units supplement and support the formal education in the auditoriums by giving students a space to discuss everything from difficult knowledge to weekend plans.
Our design is based on comprehensive analysis of both context and user processes. We know that participation creates engagement. Our student units make it easy and natural for students to engage themselves in new knowledge and communities. The furniture is created as distinctive units to increase concentration during group work by shielding different groups from each other. The warm wooden materials and pillows invite students to informal stay after class, supporting a dynamic student environment where synergy and togetherness are key.
We chose colors and materials that connect with the existing building to ensure that the furniture supports B116’s reputation as the most beautiful auditorium building of DTU. The idea of inviting the outside world in also shines through in the thoughts that artist Malene Bach and lighting designer Iben Winther Orton have made in the design of the auditorium building's new interior. Together, they have worked to take advantage of the light from the high-seated windows that follow the building 360 degrees around.
They have done this by hanging large, transparent textiles from the ceiling of the corridors.