Akademiska Hus builds student accommodation in Uppsala
Wednesday, 24 October 2018The University of Agricultural Sciences has the long-term goal of doubling the number of students to about 10,000 over a ten-year period. To achieve this goal, the centre of education has determined that about 250–300 new undergraduate and graduate student housing units are needed on the Ultuna Campus.
“Good, easily accessible housing for students and guest researchers is an important competitive factor for attracting the very best in both categories. On-campus housing close to the workplace also allows residents to avoid the negative environmental impact of long commutes and prolonged travel times,” says Birgitta Wikmark Carlsson, acting university director at the University of Agricultural Sciences.
With the current investment, Akademiska Hus will build 108 flats to house 132 residents in various formats – from collective residences with double rooms on corridors to small flats. The housing units will be located in an existing building by Ultuna Hamn close to Arrheniusplan, in a lovely natural setting. The building was once used by an academic department and will now be called Hydra. Housing in this part of the campus will link the Ultuna Campus with the central parts of Ultuna and Fyrisån.
“Akademiska Hus wants to promote student accommodation construction all over Sweden for a variety of reasons. In part because housing is a crucial factor for the future competitiveness of the centres of education and in part because no student should need to forego an education because of a housing shortage. In addition, more campus-based housing contribute to increased security and a more vibrant campus round the clock,” says Susanne Malmgren, head of student housing at Akademiska Hus.
Since the end of 2014 Akademiska Hus’ mission has broadened to also allow construction, ownership and management of undergraduate and graduate student housing. Based on an inventory of the entire country, Akademiska Hus can participate in the production of 11,000 undergraduate and graduate student housing units by 2021. The company believes it has the capacity to complete construction of 6,500 of them under its own management. Between 2021 and 2026 Akademiska Hus can contribute to the creation of an additional 10,000 undergraduate and graduate student housing units. The company has not yet decided how many of these units it will be directly responsible for building.
Construction of the new undergraduate and graduate student housing on the Ultuna Campus is planned to begin in the winter of 2018 with occupancy in the spring of 2020.The project will involve a total redesign and renovation of the current building.