Description
Following detailed planning studies it was decided to refurbish the obsolete power station of Peking University and fit it out for innovative use rather than demolish it. It now accommodates facilities for magnetic resonance research. This discipline calls for high expenditures on equipment and apparatuses. Particular care is extended to air-filtering and conditioning as a basic requirement for an efficient and successful operation. The cubic content of the former power station was able to accommodate the required large spaces which house the complicated mechanical ventilation system that provides clean room air quality.
Despite these specific scientific requirements and the resulting complex mechanical infrastructure, the architects managed to incorporate the entire programme into the existing structure with its various large spaces. Following the ”house-in-house” principle the clean room area and the work places of the scientists are located in an independent pod structure. It was inserted into the central hall that bears resemblance to a basilica. Hence, the interior spatial quality of the former power station could be retained. The independent, transparent pod structure impresses through its rigorous sculptural design. On three floors, it accommodates the NMR laboratories that are seismically, electro-magnetically, and acoustically screened by a perimeter zone consisting of access cores, offices, work desks, and service areas.
The aisles of the hall contain service areas and plant rooms, in particular the air-conditioning equipment with high-power filters for the clean rooms. The large existing building volume did not pose any restrictions for the installation of an efficient and flexible system of service lines.
Access to the NMR structure is provided from the exterior by staircases positioned on its sides and internally by a central single flight stair located between two load-bearing exposed concrete walls.
The new statically independent structure consists of reinforced concrete and steel. In contrast to the existing solid structure the main materials used for the interior fit-out are timber, steel, and, above all, glass. As a result, the new cubes do not appear as introvert, or even ”alien” volumes, but as modern transparent work places for scientists. An atmosphere of interaction and cooperation within this high-tech research facility prevails.
Drawings
Schematic sketch of building
Ground floor
Second floor
Third floor
Fourth floor
Photos
The clean room area within the central hall follows the ”house-in-house” principle
View of the central stair flight between two load-bearing exposed concrete walls
Originally published in: Hardo Braun, Dieter Grömling, Research and Technology Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2005.