Maritime references on solid ground

SIMAC is short for Svendborg International Maritime Academy. The educational building is established on the quay Nordre Kaj in Svendborg Harbour and forms an innovative and inspiring frame for approx. 900 students and their educators.

Here, the ship’s officers, master mariners and marine engineers of tomorrow will be educated, and more experienced candidates are able to strengthen their qualifications via the academy’s further training programmes.

The building includes classrooms, two auditoriums, common areas, workshops, administration, technical room, etc. In addition, a new and advanced simulator centre will be established with a full-scale engine room and a bridge where projectors create a visual and realistic experience of being at sea.

The many functions in the building must operate and work together, and even though work is done on noisy machinery in the workshops or engine rooms, it must still be quiet in the rooms where the theoretical training takes place.

This made special demands on the technical solutions, and the process included a lot of user involvement to ensure a good acoustic environment for all users of the building.

Unhiding the hidden
Artelia was engineer on the construction which was designed by C.F. Møller Architects and EFFEKT. It was a clear ambition that the building had to reflect its purpose by referring to the maritime environment.

The structure of the building is inspired by the cross section of a ship hull, and the raw concrete elements refer to the industrial buildings and ship masts in the area.

In June 2023, the building won the concrete element award Betonelement Prisen for its trim structure design, which gives an open and transparent building that interacts with the surrounding maritime environment.

The inspiration from the industrial and maritime environment is also seen in the way that all elements that are normally wrapped and hidden are now made visible.

The installations are fully visible, and the concrete columns in raw concrete steal the spotlight both outside and inside the building.

Both the architect, engineer and contractor have therefore had extra focus on aesthetics, including the appearance and hidden joints of the concrete, says design manager for structures, Sidsel Juhlin, who has nothing but praise for the parties to the project :

Technical challenges and local attention
The challenge with designing parts of the load-bearing structure on the outside of the facade is that some of the structure is cold while the rest is placed inside where it is hot.

This may result in thermal bridges with the risk of creating condensation and damp. It required close cooperation between the structural engineer and the energy engineer to create a solution that would meet all needs.

The building consists primarily of regular modules, but several of the rooms are in double height to create visual variation in the building design and to contain the functions in the house that require high ceiling.

The rooms in double height are staggered for each floor which means that none of the floors are alike, which also made extraordinary demands on the engineers’ calculations, Sidsel explains :

The New SIMAC was constructed by the private commercial foundation Fonden Svendborg Maritime Uddannelsescenter (SMUC) and was made possible thanks to a significant donation from, among others, the foundation Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond.

In addition, a large donation will be granted by Dampskibsselskabet Orient’s Fond as well as additional donations from, among others, Den Danske Maritime Fond, Lauritzen Fonden, Sydfyns Elforsynings Almennyttige Fond and Sydfyenske Dampskibsselskabs Fond.