Bikuben Kollegium is a privately owned dormitory for students in Ørestad, Copenhagen.
The Bikuben Kollegiet opened its doors in 2006, when 107 students moved into the striking student-housing facility near Copenhagen University's Amager campus. The building looks like a cube, but its distinctive box shape is punctured in several places by orange openings with room for indoor and outdoor common areas. The bottom storey is elevated to create an open space under the building on this very busy intersection. Since the site is at the corner of Ørestad North, the building's design had to be special, and as a finishing touch, the artist Viera Collaro created a work consisting of illuminated letters to decorate the entrances.
As with many of the city's new student-housing facilities, the architects wanted to break with the traditional structure of long corridors, uniform stories, and clear divisions between rooms and common areas. Instead, the facility is designed on a rotation principle, with rows of rooms twisting up through the building, passing common areas. Kitchens, lounges, workout rooms, laundry rooms, and gardens shift position from one story to the next. The kitchens and common areas are oriented toward a central courtyard, so residents can see from one area to another.