The Student House, Linköping University

With the Student House at Linköping University, the students now have a new attractive meeting place and a creative working environment for learning and researching. The new building strengthens the campus’ identity and brand and contributes to the further development of the campus Valla.

A distinctive silhouette

With its seven floors, Studenthus Valla differs from the surrounding low university buildings. The house is a new clear landmark for Linköping University and the campus’s new entrance. With a distinctive silhouette, the building stands out in the flat landscape. The contemporary architecture is based on the neighbourhoods cultural environment, as well as on the University’s original 70s buildings. New and old are linked together and common denominators are the red color and the rational structure.

Client: Akademiska Hus
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Status: Completed 2019
Area: 15,000 sqm
Certification: Miljöbyggnad Guld (Sweden Green Building Council)

Photo: Åke E:son Lindman & Anders Fredriksén

The architecture is based on the neighbourhoods cultural environment, as well as on the University’s original 70s buildings.

The Student House has high social ambitions and forms a meeting place where students, researchers and employees can gather to study, work and evolve together. The building is located exactly at the intersection of the university’s northern technology-oriented parts and the southern ones, which are oriented towards the humanities. The entrance hall extends over two floors and is connected by a wide staircase, where students can also sit down to study. The meeting place is an addition to the existing route that runs throughout Campus Valla, Corson, and serves as the campus’ social pulse vein.

The Student House contributes to the development by offering an open meeting place in an attractive building, centrally located on the Campus site. The new function, a Student Services with concierge and associated chatroom increases the quality of information and services available to students, while the University library supports the collection and exchange of information and knowledge.

By contributing to the development of the entire Campus Valla, the house is in many ways more than just a building. The house is primarily a place to support meetings between different people and interests.

Linda Mattsson, Lead Architet

Unifying rooms with views of the nature

The library is the true heart of the Student House and also constitutes the larger, unifying space that Campus Valla has so far lacked. Here, the entrance hall’s public and accessible areas meet a more contemplative environment with different types of study places, individually or in groups, quiet or with a slightly higher sound volume.

During the design process for the Miljöbyggnad Guld-certified building, daylight simulations were carried out in the early design stage to support the architectural design.