Description
What used to be the largest science and engineering centre of its kind in the former GDR is being remodelled since the middle of the nineties. The area of 150 ha in the southeast of Berlin is to become a high-profile science and business park for cutting-edge enterprises and institutes. Part of this scheme is the high brilliance ”light” source developed by scientists of the Berlin Electron Storage Ring Company for Synchrotron Radiation (BESSY). With this building the architects achieved an exemplary symbiosis of scientific research and architectural expression.
The building is consistently designed to reflect the technical and scientific functions therein. The architectural form follows the large-scale scientific equipment: a synchrotron radiation source ranging from infrared to vacuum ultra violet (VUV) light to the X-ray region that is used by more than 130 research teams worldwide. The storage ring hall with a diameter of approximately 120 m and a height of about 13 m forms the central piece of the complex. The floor plan clearly reveals its function: by means of circular acceleration, light from the off-centred radiation source (the synchrotron) can be diverted into tangential beam tubes and ”shot” into different testing facilities in the hall.
A physically decoupled, 3 m wide exterior walkway around the perimeter contains the required technical services. Occasional strip windows in an otherwise solid façade connect the storage ring hall with the environment. The roof structure consisting of steel trusses spans 27 m across the storage ring tunnel and test areas below. Machines and test facilities are also decoupled and supported by a continuous 60 cm thick floor slab absorbing vibrations. The synchrotron and storage ring are enclosed with an in-situ concrete shell that is up to 1 m thick.
Offices of the operator, the BESSY GmbH, and office and laboratory areas for the users of the storage ring are located in a building on Albert-Einstein-Straße. Its height complies with the regulations of the master plan that stipulate four-storey buildings on an urban block pattern. It is linked to the storage ring hall by a glazed two-storey hall.
Drawings
Schematic sketch of building
Ground floor
Upper floor
Longitudinal section
Photos
Exterior view of the electron storage ring with aluminium curtain wall
View into the storage ring hall showing beam tubes and testing facilities
Originally published in: Hardo Braun, Dieter Grömling, Research and Technology Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2005.