Review: Grønjordskollegiet — get yourself 1,000 roommates

Grønjordskollegiet is the prototype, classic huge residence hall out on Copenhagen’s island district of Amager. But even though it is eight storeys high and is home to 1,000 students divided into a number of ‘blocks’, it can be difficult to find.

»I used to say to people who asked for directions to the residence hall, that they have to look for the dullest buildings when they come out of the metro station,« says one of the residents, Signe Birch Jensen. She does add, however, that this no longer applies, as a new renovation has started. But the existing 1970s building will still not win any architectural beauty pageants.

SEE THE FULL ‘DORMS DISCLOSED’ UNIVERSITY POST SERIES: Reviews by student residents of dorms and residence halls in Copenhagen

You can, however, be lucky to get a room on what Signe’s roommate Julie Skaarup Roesgaard calls »the right side«. Here you get a view of Amager Fælled’s green landscape just on the other side of the road.

Bar, and Dungeons and Dragons club

Julie Skaarup Roesgaard is a member of the residents’ council, which is responsible for most of the daily operations of the dorm. The residence hall is to a large extent self-governing, and it is the residents themselves who decide whether they need new trash cans or flowerbeds in the yard.

The social life of the dormitory, on the other hand, is run by something called the collegians’ association Kollegianerforeningen. There is plenty to be done: In addition to the annual parties, which include the summer festival, the Oktoberfest party and the Christmas bingo, the residence hall also has parties on each block, a tour de chambres room party dash, and Friday bars in their own bar, which is called the ‘Hatten’.

But everything is not about alcohol, according to Signe Birch Jensen, who is herself on the board of the Kollegianerforeningen and has started a Dungeons and Dragons club. There is also a knitting, plant and yoga club, as well as a number of sports clubs that make use of the dorm’s own soccer field, and its volleyball and basketball courts.

»One of the great things about living in a large residence hall is that if you want to do something obscure, then there will be people who are interested in taking part,« says Signe Birch Jensen. »There are really many different types of people living here.«

Super cheap

The dormitory also attracts a number of residents because of the rent, which is DKK 2,000 a month for a single room and DKK 3,200 for a double room.

»The Grønjordskollegiet has a reputation for being a very cheap place to live,« says Julie Skaarup Roesgaard.

In addition to your own room, you will have access to a shared kitchen, which you share with those on your own corridor.

»We share everything here,« says Julie Skaarup Roesgaard. This also means that you can make your own mark on the place – as long as your fellow residents are in on it.

»When I moved in, there were these two really worn-down sofas. Now I’ve put in a new couch and a new table, but I haven’t been able to persuade the others to throw out our portrait of Queen Margrethe and her late husband Henrik.«

[This is a review by a student reporter. But in the Dorms Disclosed series, it is the residents themselves that review the dorms that they live in. Here is an overview with links to all of the dormitory and student accommodation reviews we have published so far.]