Description

The project is a successful example of highly economical zoning and stacking of functions on up to three levels, its communicative, impressive, and flexible architecture being achieved by a thoughtful building layout. The building located at the border of the University of Bremen campus, adjacent to the Max Planck Institute for Marine Micro-Biology, brings together two formerly separated facilities – the Institute for Bonding Technology and Surfaces and the Institute for Net-Shape Manufacturing – under one roof.

Based on the master plan and a design statute stipulating block figures and facing brick façades, the architects developed a building of great character. Two separate and individually structured volumes were arranged round a courtyard to create a layout that hints at the traditional block type but is at the same time permeable and inviting. Curtain walls consist of brick panels with open cross bond joints, are clearly non-load-bearing and take away the usual heaviness of facing brick façades. The glazed bridge above the main entrance that connects the two building parts is tinted blue on one side and yellow on the other side. When seen from the outside, the two overlapping layers blend into a green tone that is complimentary to the red colour of the facing bricks.

The three-storey building comprises a full basement and includes a supplementary service level above the second floor. The research laboratories and the offices for theoretical studies are arranged along a double-loaded access corridor; offices face the quiet green space and the courtyard, laboratories face the street. Laboratories and respective offices have been arranged opposite each other to create short distances and enable the constant exchange between experimental work and theoretical analysis.The services run in a combined system of central and single shafts.

The reinforced concrete structure comprises a range of basic materials that were used in a very disciplined way, clearly preserving their natural qualities and pure finishes. The result is a rational building that suits its purpose functionally and aesthetically. Apart from exposed concrete, mainly glass was used to symbolise openness and transparency – qualities that were also desired by the scientists. The footbridges linking the two wings in combination with the volumes’ differentiation in terms of dimensions and materials create interspaces and visual connections and express the institute’s spirit of cooperation.

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