Forum Medicum

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECT:

Forum Medicum will be the new rallying point for all students, programmatically bundling the various educational areas and fields of research in one new medical research center for the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University. The central location on Sölvegatan and the ambitious agenda for the buildings will be a generator for the development of the university and the plans for the Campus.

The indoor plaza, the Forum, will be accessible to the public, with café, restaurant and meeting points all visually linked to the outdoor public areas. The blurred border between indoor and outdoor areas effectively creates one great urban forum, making room for exhibitions and an informal learning environment, while conveying the functions of Forum Medicum to the city and people around it.

The building on top of the Forum is rotated 45 degrees, in a gesture that strengthens the identity and expression of the building, connecting it to the context around Sölvegatan. The diagonal rotation of the bottom and top building utilizes the area optimally and provides unique recreational spaces in and outside the building in niches and terraces.

Flexibility has been essential in the design of the new building. The space planning strategy has been to weigh the different needs of an environment for teaching, research and study purposes. The design consists of a simple modular system that can be modified from day to day, with the use of sliding doors and other divisions. This flexibility also makes it possible to change the layout of the building more drastically in the long run, meeting the requirements of the changing needs for research facilities and approaches to teaching.

Durable and natural materials are utilized throughout the building. Symbolizing the different forms and functions of the Medical Faculty, warm and cool materials are applied variously throughout the complex. Steel and wood are recurrent materials, creating an atmosphere of the building that juxtaposes clinical precision and natural warmth – professionalism combined with humanism. The façade and roof of the lower building are a combination of steel and wood, filtering daylight into the Forum and providing a feeling of being outside under trees.

Considerations for social, environmental and economic sustainability have informed the building design. A comfortable and healthy indoor climate, energy efficient solutions and sustainable long-lasting materials have been guiding principles throughout the process.