Henning Larsen selected for university campus expansion in the Faroe Islands

Henning Larsen’s master plan for a new campus extension for the University of the Faroe Islands has been selected as the winner of an international competition that included BIG, Cobe, and three other designs from leading firms.

The scheme incorporates mass timber as its featured material and sources the Faroese tradition of shelter building in order to foster an additional 150 days of the community’s outdoor season in the capital of Tórshavn.

A cluster of low-rise buildings is spread over an 86,000-square-foot area connected by a square central “heart” courtyard feature. The design also calls for green roofs and greenery-covered north and south facade elevations for each structure, which house alternatively a library, small study spaces, a café, canteen, classrooms, and an auditorium. Henning Larsen says it will prefer a modular facade solution that better integrates the rotation of biophilia throughout the design.

The firm’s Director of Sustainability and Innovation, Jakob Strømann-Andersen, added his view that the project creates “the best possible conditions for outdoor life in one of the harshest campus locations in the world.” 

The campus expansion follows a unifying town hall design in Nordragota and a similar-sized recent ferry terminal and headquarters project, also for Tórshavn. 

Completion of the master plan is expected in 2026.