Efficient administration

Efficient administration

AARHUS (DK) - In what the architects describe as 'a fully integrated classic modern composition', Danish firm schmidt hammer lassen has won the design competition for a 6000 m² extension to the municipal administration office in Aarhus. Touted as the first of its kind in Denmark, the zero-energy building will improve upon the existing administration building, which was erected in 1965, through green construction techniques and green spaces.

The municipality's environmental ambitions required that typical elements of ecologically responsible design be incorporated, such as rainwater collection for reuse in lavatories and landscaped areas, 420 m² of solar thermal panels for absorption cooling and heating water and 1100 m² of solar cells for generating electricity. SHL's design will manifest as a separate structure from the original building, and will be comprised of parallel wings of two to three storeys each. Within the wings, the design promises a flexible organization of office areas.

A facade constructed of recycled glass will enclose the new structure, while the programme also proposes to reuse 96% of materials from a previous building demolished on the site. Gardens situated between the wings will draw nature into the building, and derive from the architects' priority to preserve existing trees and plants that would otherwise take many years to grow following construction. (Dutton R. Hauhart)