Karolinska Institutet builds for the future

Karolinska Institutet, part of Hagastaden

The major investment at Karolinska Institutet is part of the development of the Hagastaden district with a new university hospital, flats and offices that will bind Solna to Stockholm and create a vibrant science district of the city.

More effective premises needed

Karolinska Institutet has had a long-standing need for new premises to accommodate the growth of research and education, and because many of its current buildings are outdated and scientifically ineffective. Modern medical research requires ever more access to advanced and expensive equipment, which, if it is to be cost-effective, should be widely shared by researchers.

Now that the development of Hagastaden and a new, ultra-modern university hospital is underway, the time is ripe for Karolinska Institutet to bring to fruition its plans for the Solna Campus. It is particularly important to exploit the collaborative and efficiency potential offered by the new hospital, which will be the university's closest neighbour to the east. The plan is to link the lecture hall complex and the new research lab to the hospital building.

Four new buildings on the Solna Campus

Ongoing projects:

• Aula Medica - auditorium for 1 000 persons, conference facilities and offices
• Biomedicum - highly specialised laboratory
• Gamma - laboratory and offices
• The Widerström Building (Widerströmska huset) - office and education block

The new buildings will add about 90,000 square meters to Karolinska Institutet's premises, while the university will be vacating roughly 45,000 square meters of its current holdings.

The new buildings are located along Solnavägen, the main road separating Karolinska Institutet from the new university hospital. From having been almost invisible from the main road, the university will present a proud new face towards the city.

Better study environments

Karolinska Institutet is also improving and renovating student learning environments in a project titled Future learning environments.

Spaces around teaching rooms and other places for students are renovated and refitted to create environments more conducive to socialising, group work and self-study. Improving lecture rooms and other study premises is also a part of the project. The interiors have been designed by Tengbom after a concept produced by White Architects.

The project has been implemented on the Solna and Huddinge Campus, and will be implemented at the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Stockholm South General (Söder) as well as Danderyd hospital.

• Read more about the project Future learning environments.

City street and welcoming facades

Besides fulfilling the purely functional needs of the university, Akademiska Hus and Karolinska Institutet aim to keep the inner campus environment intact by locating the new buildings with their more modern architectonic expression on the campus periphery, as a protective wall for the grassy areas and the traditional, low-rise brick buildings. These new buildings will also open up Karolinska Institutet to the street and make it more welcoming to passers-by on Solnavägen. There are also plans to further improve the campus environment by relocating the car parks and improving the landscaping.

Buildings by Akademiska Hus

Most of the construction work is being overseen by Akademiska Hus. Akademiska Hus and Karolinska Institutet are working with far-sighted development plans for the Solna Campus.