The University City has been abuzz with building work in recent years. The builders have also been busy below ground, where a new passage between the yellow and red buildings is taking shape. The passage will be finished in early 2022 and it will be a boost to the academic community on campus.

2021.09.03 | Signe Opstrup

On Friday 3 September, the University Park was connected to the University City via a new underground passage in the northern end of the park. A ceremony was held to celebrate the breakthrough, and AU and FEAS had invited involved parties and guests.

The hole is deepening, and the coming passage between the University Park and the new University City on the former municipal hospital site at Nørrebrogade in Aarhus is taking shape in earnest. Builders have been toiling on the underground link since September 2020, and the new passage is expected to be ready for use in early 2022.

On Friday 3 September, this milestone in constructing the future University City and binding it to the University Park was officially celebrated.

A fusion of yellow and red

Jørgen Lang, CEO of Forskningsfondens Ejendomsselskab, and Rector Brian Bech Nielsen met in the middle of the passage and tied a yellow and a red rope together as a symbol of the link between the University City and the University Park.

"The physical connection between the University Park and the University City will help forge a common campus environment and close collaboration between the various disciplines," said Brian Bech Nielsen, and Jørgen Lang continued:

"The new link will not only ensure that students can easily and safely move between the two sides of the campus. We’re also creating a passage where knowledge and the ambitious ideas can meet and spread across disciplines."

See visualizations of the new passage and photos from the ceremony here.

The entrance to the new passage will be from Carl Holst-Knudsens Vej up towards the Nørrebrogade-Nordre Ringgade intersection. In the University City, the entrance will be close to the renovated building complex (1870), which AU IT and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics will move into in 2022.

Three passages in all

The passage is one of a total of three passages for pedestrians and cyclists under Nørrebrogade. There is an existing passage by the light rail stop closest to Vennelyst Boulevard, and in 2025 a third passage will be opened under Nørrebrogade between the two other passages.

Events in the University City 2022 - 2025

The opening of the new passage in 2022 is just one in a series of major events that will be taking shape in the University City in the years to come. Relocations, new student housing units and yet another passage are also on the way.

Events in 2022

• AU IT and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics move to the University City.
  In early 2022, staff from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and AU IT will move into the rebuilt building complex 1870 at the northern end of the University City, close to the new passage.
• The yellow student halls of residence in the University Park are joined by a total of 132 new student housing units in the University City.
  The former patient hotel is to be converted into accommodation for approx. 170 students, who will be living in the heart of the campus, close to the university. The first residents are expected to move in during April 2022.

Events in 2025

• AU’s entrepreneurship hub, The Kitchen, moves to another building in the University City.
  The Kitchen will be moving into the new building complex that currently houses the region’s hospital laundry and boiler house. The new location for the university’s entrepreneurship hub means that students and researchers will get neighbours such as development departments of large companies, foundations, organisations and small companies that all collaborate with Aarhus University.
• Aarhus BSS moves activities from Fuglesangs Allé to the University City.
  With its location in the middle of the University City, and a gross area of approx. 37,000 m², the development of the site in the University City for Aarhus BSS is a large and important part of AU's overall physical development. The new buildings will also be closer to the faculty's other activities in the University Park in Aarhus.
• The central passage under Nørrebrogade opens.
  The entrance to the passage will be close to building 1310 in the University Park and will lead to an opening almost at the centre of the University City between Aarhus BSS’s new buildings.

Want to find out more?

• If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact programme director of the physical development of AU’s campus, Campus 2.0, Charlotte Lyngholm Bom at cl@au.dk
• Find out more about AU’s physical campus development at au.dk/nycampus 

Facts about the passage

• The passage will have a bike lane and a footpath, so that both pedestrians and cyclists can move easily and safely between the University Park and the University City.
• The entrance to the passage in the University Park will be from Carl Holst-Knudsens Vej up towards the Nørrebrogade-Nordre Ringgade intersection. In the University City, the entrance will be close to the renovated building complex 1870, which AU IT and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics will move into in early 2022.
• The covered part of the northern passage under Nørrebrogade is approx. 35 metres long.
• The interior of the passage will have tiled brick walls and a tiled ceiling with integrated lighting.
• The tiling on the pavement, walls and ceiling will be yellow at the University Park end and red at the University City end, with a gradual transition from yellow to red inside the passage.
• The tunnel boring for the passage was established by the City of Aarhus in 2014-2016 in connection with construction of the light rail on Nørrebrogade.