Year: 2020-2023
Location: Aarhus, Denmark
Size: 319 units
Status: Completed
Collaborators: Ingeniør’ne, JCN
Photos: SLETH

SLETH has designed the master plan for a new urban neighbourhood around the School of Journalism. The neighbourhood contains social housing, youth housing, family housing, townhouses and the housing concept Storbylandsby. The neighbourhood is located on the edge of the green and close to the light rail stop. It respects the original stepped landscape architecture of the School of Journalism by Sven Hansen and refers in its architecture to the School of Journalism’s main building, which will be transformed into the shared neighbourhood house, Ovartaci House. In Christiansbjerg’s new neighbourhood, parts of the School of Journalism’s facilities, buildings and urban spaces are preserved. The School of Journalism will be transformed from a closed teaching building to an open and inviting community centre for the entire district and its neighbours. The idea is to preserve and develop parts of the architecture and cultural heritage. To create a connection between the newcomers and the prominent institutions in the area: the School of Journalism and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

The intention of Housing at the School of Journalism is to support a vibrant, more experiential and outward-looking architecture that is inspired by the colourful interior of the School of Journalism and turns the existing building inside out. Robust materials are softened by colour and planting. Colours and shapes mark special places and support the life of the building.

Installations and elements on the roof are shaped and coloured, adding contrast to the regular concrete body. On the roof, there is a 360° view of the near and distant context – to the square in front of the School of Journalism, to Vestereng and to Aarhus. Community is a central part of the building. Residents can gather in larger communities in the courtyard and on the roof for table tennis, petanque or yoga. On each floor there are two common rooms with balconies where smaller parties and informal meetings take place. The project operates on the principle of inside/out, where the diversity of the residents is expressed on the facades. The layout of the space behind the facade is physically visible on the outside, while the many openings allow for a vibrant building that adds life to the neighbourhood. The project is located at a central point in the new neighbourhood and addresses the city on several levels: a gateway with a shared laundry, the many openings in the facade, two roof terraces and, not least, the common spaces on the corners with shared balconies.