Copenhagen. A star-shaped tower for medical research

Designed by C.F. Møller Architects in Copenhagen, the Maersk Tower is an extension of Panum, the University of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, and contains both research and teaching facilities, as well as a conference centre with auditoriums and meeting rooms. By selecting a tower typology, there is greater allowance for a green and urban campus park, which is open to everyone and therefore involves and develops the surrounding neighbourhood. A unique element of the new campus park is the zigzagging “floating path” that leads pedestrians and cyclists across parts of the tower.

The Tower rests on a low star-shaped base which contains shared and public facilities. With its transparent facade, the entire base appears open and welcoming and at the same time this transparency allows the interior of the building to blend in with the external green landscape. On each floor the Tower’s functions are linked together in an efficient loop, which provides shorter travel distances and strengthens opportunities for teamwork. A continuous sculptural spiral staircase visually and physically connects the open fifteen floor atrium, creating an extensive three-dimensional sense of space.

The facade of the tower is divided into a relief-like grid structure of storey-height copper-covered shutters. The shutters of the facade function as movable climate shields, that automatically opens or closes according to direct sunlight, ensuring direct heat gain in the laboratories is kept to an absolute minimum. At the same time the shutters provide a deep relief effect to the facade, breaking down the considerable scale of the Tower. In their expression, they also offer a sense of fineness and verticality.