Description

Since its inauguration in 1992, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology has been committed to basic research in the fields of immunology, molecular and cellular biology. The envisaged cooperation with local universities and hospitals was a major factor for the selection of the site in Berlin’s Mitte district. The institute maintains particularly close links to the German Arthritis Research Centre, which occupies about one third of the shared building. The building is located on a prominent plot north of the River Spree that is part of the premises of the Charité – the famous medical faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin. The architects proposed a dense urban building due to the shortage of space. A compact, nearly square edifice houses an atrium and most of the required primary floor spaces – above all the highly equipped laboratories and special research areas. The six-storey main building comprises four full storeys plus one service floor and an attic level for animal keeping. The experimental departments of the institute are placed one above the other, each occupying its own floor.

The particular range of research activities in this building called for a special architectural solution. For instance, the areas for research with pathogens have been arranged in an inner high security ring, which can only be accessed via safety gates. In section, the laboratories are designed to permit a maximum of daylight into the spaces. Daylight can penetrate deeply into the laboratories and the exterior fabric is reduced to only a few essential components.

The fully glazed aluminium post-and-beam façade affords generous views from the outside into the modular laboratories and offices. On the other hand, the entrance area and gable façades made of red concrete blocks refer to the architectural character and colours of the surrounding listed historical buildings. This balance with the existing urban fabric is an essential feature of the new research building.

The central entrance cube with its light-flooded sculptural hall supplements the laboratory zones. This core space merges two areas: the central communal facilities facing the inner courtyard and the administrative and library area.

The heaviness of the concrete block of the entrance hall is attenuated by elements that let the visitor associate something ”lightweight”, ”ephemeral”: the ”closed” research area opens up like a tent towards the main entrance, the communal facilities. Thus, it becomes a linking element between inside and outside – a place of reception and social interaction, for symposiums, discussions and presentations of research results.

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Originally published in: Hardo Braun, Dieter Grömling, Research and Technology Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2005.