Lindner College of Business opens at the University of Cincinnati

The completion of Henning Larsen’s first project in North America and the University of Cincinnati’s bicentennial have both been marked by the opening of The Lindner College of Business. Completed after two years of construction, the project aims to create a sense of community, combining the Scandinavian concept of communal wellness with the practicality associated with the midwest. Created in collaboration with KZF and BuroHappold, the college joins a campus landscape known internationally as a “who’s who” style guide to contemporary American architecture, featuring works by Frank Gehry, Morphosis, Pei Cobb Freed and Bernard Tschumi.

The new 21,000 sqm building is located at the heart of the campus, linking together a traditional quad and city bus route to the UC Main Street, a pedestrian avenue that forms the school’s social nerve. “We wanted the college to be not an object on the campus, but an extension of it,” stated Michael Sørensen, partner and head of Henning Larsen’s New York office. “Especially in business, where creating personal networks is so important, people can’t learn or work well if they feel boxed-in and invisible. The ability to connect had to be a kind of second nature in the building - it came from a motivation for the college to be the most open building on campus.”

In order to foster this idea of connection and networking, the building is designed to accommodate learning that happens outside the classroom. A full height atrium in the centre of the building contains skylights that illuminate seating areas occupied by students with laptops. “When talking about the kind of community we wanted to create in the school, we found ourselves often returning to the Danish idea of hygge,” explains Sørensen. “It’s an idea now associated around the world with candlelight and coziness, but the essence of hygge is really about being together in comfort and happiness. The students ultimately have to find hygge for themselves, but in providing spaces for togetherness we created a framework for that kind of atmosphere.”

Lucy Nordberg
TenderStream Head of Research

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