The Technical Faculty of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
Odense, Denmark 2015
Project: The Technical Faculty of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
Location: Odense, Denmark
Architects: C.F. Møller Architects
Year: 2011 - 2015
Client: Danish Building and Property Agency and SDU Technical Faculty
(10) The Technical Faculty in context: Satellite vs Map
The Project
The faculty was under construction over a period four years, being taken into use in 2015, under the ownership of SDU.
The overall interior layout brings about great flexibility of circulation throughout the space, as a series of interlinked bridges, built at multiple levels, crossing the main atrium, connect five different sub-buildings, each of them constituting a diverse research space in the field of material and construction science, Nano-optics, environmental sciences and robotics.
Communication among students is preserved due to the layout of the bridges, along with an enormous central staircase found at the central part of the atrium connecting the bridges, which acts both as a circulation method and a communal area where gatherings between students frequently take place.
C.F. Møller Architects
Møller Architects are a Scandinavian architecture company known for their approach to a diverse, sustainable and clear design, which belongs to embed environment and resource awareness into their framework of designs. In addition to the building design, the company is also involved in a series of landscape and urbanistic designs, that are equally seeking to promote sustainability and durability in a professional manner. As a result of their propensity for sustainable design, the building of The Technical Faculty aims to make use of a constant and undisturbed exposure to daylight, using a generous array of mechanisms, devised in a proficient geometric design.
Daylight Design
The staircase is considered a hallmark of the building design, as exemplified above. Due to this respect a series of circular skylight were introduced on the roof of the full-height atrium, to preserve a considerable amount of daylight throughout the day and the year. Skylights are generally not preferred in the building design as they may cause overheating and direct glare, nevertheless the faculty is located in Denmark, a Scandinavian country with a northern climate, where the sky dome light is usually associated with an overcast sky. This aspect is important as the light doesn’t come from a single point. Thus, the lighting intensity can be even 20% weaker than direct sunlight, being distributed in a diffuse way. Due to this respect, the problem of overheating and direct glare is excluded, whilst the ample daylit area yields a considerable amount of benefits over the mental health and productivity of students.
Nonetheless, a clerestory would have been preferable in spite of a skylight as a measure of top lighting, as the materials used for the staircase finishes have a specular appearance, which in the case of direct sunlight are prone to reflected glare. This can lead to noticeable problems when one considers how frequented the area is by people.
The façade of the building represents another mechanism of light distribution to the internal space. Façade screen was made up of seven concrete panels, varying in size and shape. Each panel has a distinct pattern of circles, each one of them being perforated at different diameters and layouts. The indistinct layout performs as a solar screen that generates glare protection and reduced direct sunlight by up to 50%, without obscuring the view of the interior spaces towards the external surroundings. The intrinsic design works in this way, as the geometry of the circular openings across the whole surface of the façade follows the sun movement throughout a day, enabling the framework to provide a shaded and glare free habitat.
The faculty provides powerful evidence regarding on how daylight can enhance, fashion and imprint the idea of a speculative design, whose aspiration is to harness as much as possible the power of natural light which accounts for our wellness.
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Bibliography
10. The Technical Faculty - Google Maps [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from:
11. The Technical Faculty SDU | C. F. Møller Architects - Arch2O.com [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.arch2o.com/technical-faculty-sdu-c-f-moller-architects
12. The Technical Faculty SDU / C.F. Møller | ArchDaily [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.archdaily.com/770206/the-technical-faculty-sdu-cf-moller-architects
13. The Technical Faculty - SDU - Projects - C.F. Møller [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.cfmoller.com/p/The-Technical-Faculty-SDU-i2571.html
