NEWS Aurora, the newest building on Umeå University’s main campus, has now been completed. The building meets the University’s needs for teaching premises, offices and examination halls, and serves as a new hub in the middle of campus – with sustainability as its guiding principle.
The 9,500 square metre building consists of seven floors and houses classrooms, offices, study areas, a café and examination halls with space for up to 540 students and staff. Aurora connects Universum, Aula Nordica and the Natural Sciences Building and can be accessed through external and internal entrances, including the Campus Corridor.
Pressträff Aurora Ali Ranji, projektdirektör på Akademiska Hus
ImageMattias Pettersson“As a building, it symbolises the future of research and education. It is designed to meet the needs of the University, and for the first time, examinations are centralised on the main campus,” says Ali Ranji, project director at the property company Akademiska Hus.
Construction began in November 2022, with Akademiska Hus investing SEK 340 million in the project. The building will start to be used on a small scale this spring and will be fully operational in the autumn. By then, it is estimated that approximately 2,800 exams per year will be held in Aurora.
The premises are flexible, where examination halls can be converted into classrooms, and vice versa, as needed. Flexibility is one of the many climate-smart aspects of Aurora, which is built with sustainability as its guiding principle.
This includes everything from choosing environmentally friendly materials and carefully evaluated systems to energy-efficient features, such as demand-based ventilation and lighting. The building has been built according to Miljöbyggnad Guld, the highest certification given by the Sweden Green Building Council.
“The building meets a significant need from Umeå University, particularly considering the rapid advancement of digital classroom examinations,” says University Director Hans Wiklund. “The building can also be used as much more than just traditional examination rooms. It should be an obvious place for our students and staff to be, and it ties the campus together nicely. I really believe that this will make Umeå University’s campus even more attractive and dynamic.”
It is estimated that approximately 2,800 exams per year will be held in Aurora.
ImageMattias PetterssonCathrine Norberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for education on the first- and second-cycle level[d1] at Umeå University, agrees. She emphasises the importance of the building providing a sense of calm in the sometimes stressful situations that come with an examination. The interiors of the building have calm, natural colours and materials, plenty of natural light, and a grove of trees clearly visible through the large windows.
“In addition, students have the Student Services Office, the Infocenter and other important services nearby. This building provides many important opportunities for students. We are now looking forward to filling it with life and activity, and we hope that both students and staff will enjoy it,” says Norberg.
See more images from inside the building in the Swedish version of this article.