Careful renovations of the University Main Building underway
Extensive renovations of the Uppsala University Main Building are now underway. The aim is to make the popular building even more inviting and appealing to students, lecturers and the public. Now, the building will be modernised, including new electricity, lightning and acoustics.
Centrally positioned close to Gustavianum and Uppsala Cathedral, the Uppsala University Main Building is vitally important to the University and of great cultural and historical value. The building, which was designed by the architect Herman Teodor Holmgren and erected in 1877, was intended to be a physical manifestation of the University’s role and significance, with no expenses spared. For instance, the spacious foyer of the building, with its symmetrical staircases and cupolas, is considered one of the greatest Swedish architectural works of the late 19th century.
‘It is an astoundingly beautiful cultural and historical building that we are now starting work on. There is no lack of custom-designed furniture, oil paintings and sculptures here. Therefore, great caution and care must be observed in all parts of the renovation project’, says Mathias von Schlieben, Property Manager at the National Property Board of Sweden.
‘The University Main Building, with its amazing Grand Auditorium, is highly appreciated by students and staff while also being invaluable to the guest reception activities of the University and events held in the city’, says Pernilla Björk, Director of Communication at Uppsala University. ‘With the renovations and modern technology, it will be able to accommodate even more uses as a very much “alive” and bustling University Building!’
The renovation is expected to be completed in 2017.
Anna Malmberg