Text and photo: Nelly Sander, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

Raccoons, peacocks and Highland cattle once roamed the grounds. Today, only a lazy cat lies in the sun on the timber terrace outside KARAKTER arkitektur. Inside, the team works on everything from extensions to private homes to commercial buildings and cabins at the zoo.

KARAKTER arkitektur was founded in 2020 by AAU alumna Mai Brink. She had always thought she might do it one day – just not like this.

Monday: back from maternity leave. Thursday: lockdown.

After a year of maternity leave, Mai Brink was looking forward to returning to her job at Krogh Arkitektur. But the week unfolded rather differently than expected. She returned from leave on Monday, and by Thursday the whole of Denmark had shut down.

Her employer at the time depended on private investors, and when uncertainty hit the construction industry during lockdown, projects were put on hold. Soon afterwards, she was out of a job. Although the idea of becoming self-employed had been at the back of her mind, she had not imagined starting a business with a ten-month-old son. But encouragement came from several quarters:

‘A lot of people said, “Why don’t you just give it a go yourself?” So, at home, we talked about the worst that could happen. I would simply have to set up on my own and see where it led,’ she says.

The studio was set up in two rooms once occupied by animal keepers on the family property, which had formerly been home to a wildlife park.

Family, neighbours and the childminder

Although the Covid pandemic cost Mai Brink her job, it also gave the newly established studio a boost, as people across Denmark suddenly began spending far more time at home.

‘People could work from home, and then they realised they needed a home office. They also needed a room for the children when they came home from Copenhagen. And then there was that impractical door that needed replacing. So one thing led to another,’ she says.

The first commissions came from those closest to her. First from her parents and parents-in-law, all of whom were divorced. Suddenly, there were four houses in need of alterations or extensions.

The family commissions were the first featured on the company’s website. Then came an extension for the childminder in Sønderholm, a building project for friends of her parents’ neighbours, and a commission from a tradesman on Funen who had spotted some drawings Mai Brink had produced for her father. One network led to another, and more commissions began to arrive.

Skills that have become second nature

Mai Brink describes herself as ‘AAU through and through’. In particular, her experience of group work and cross-disciplinary collaboration has proved valuable.

‘Nothing in this industry is achieved alone. We have to work together. And that is something you learn at Aalborg University,’ she says.

The analytical approach she developed during her studies also continues to shape the company’s work. Among other things, the team sets aside 45 minutes each week for professional development and knowledge-sharing, and the company regularly takes on interns and student assistants from AAU.

For Mai Brink, good architecture begins with what is already there and delivers solutions that fit naturally with the building and its surroundings.

‘I often say that if you can’t tell it’s an extension, then we designed it.’