(BDT_09_041) Max Planck Institute of Biophysics

Description

The new institute building is situated on the natural science campus of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University at ”Niederurseler Hang” adjacent to the faculties of chemistry, physics and biology as well as further non-academic research facilities. The building forms the southern border of the future central campus area and has been placed parallel to the slope descending to the south. To the north it follows the proposed main thoroughfare and to the east it borders onto a north-south orientated campus axis that will link the proposed campus with the existing institutes.

Using this urban context as a starting point, the architects developed an institute building that consists of two parallel wings that are systematically and rigorously zoned and stacked and linked by a full height atrium space. The structure, architectural design, and mechanical engineering of these three basic components of the complex – the highly equipped laboratory wing, the atrium, and the conventionally equipped row of offices – have been shaped according to their functions and technical requirements in entirely different ways.

Laboratory units for experimental research located in the north are clearly readable from the outside and form a row of three-storey volumes with double-loaded corridors. The molecular-biological laboratories with a standard size of about 40 m² are situated at the northern façade including analysis work desks at the windows. The northern orientation prevents undesired solar gain and therefore reduces power demand for cooling. Secondary and technical spaces like laboratories for equipment, storage for chemicals, cold stores, and required circulation cores face the atrium; this ”dark zone” lies behind a prominent exposed concrete wall without windows. It is penetrated by footbridges and interrupted by ”light-gaps” where cuts in the façades refer to the different units of the institute.

This building part is serviced by a single and central service shaft; the plant rooms are located in the basement and on the roof. This way, services could be laid out economically and user-friendly and allow flexibility with regard to changing technical requirements.

The office wing is also organised along a double-loaded corridor. From first to third floor, offices are located at the southern façade facing the public green space. They function as supplementary study rooms for the laboratories or as work places for the theoretical section of the institute. Centrally controlled ventilation ribs at each floor level – ordering the façade vertically – provide a pleasant room climate during summer by admitting cool air into the building at night. This effect is enhanced by the high thermal mass of ceiling slabs and interior walls. Three units comprising highly frequented meeting rooms and secondary rooms face the atrium. In conjunction with the open stairs linked to the footbridges they form a rhythmical interior sequence. In contrast with the sculptural appearance of the solid ”dark zone’s” concrete wall, the spaces facing the atrium benefit from its brightness and are generously glazed. This is also true for the ground floor of this building part. It comprises joint facilities like cafeteria, library, and lecture hall, which have direct access from the atrium and are sometimes used for public events. Due to their different sizes they project out from the southern façade like drawers and form well-readable individual building volumes.

The main entrance in the west is highlighted by a delicately constructed, seemingly floating seminar box that juts out prominently, and by a cantilevering and inviting roof screen. Both elements’ lightness clearly contrasts with the solid, physical nature of the laboratory wing.

The linear atrium equally functions as a foyer and circulation space, as a spatial link between the two parallel wings and as a space assisting orientation and communication. Above all it constitutes a distinctive and singular spatial experience that users will remember. The footbridges and stairs add rhythm to the interior and also bridge the split-levels resulting from varying functional requirements of the two wings. The appearance and character of the atrium space is determined by the contrast of the two interior façades, the solid concrete wall in the north and the transparent glazed façade in the south.

The consistent separation of laboratories and offices requires the user to cross the atrium regularly on various paths; this way, it deliberately supports internal communication and informal exchange of ideas.

Special zones for structural analysis, X-ray analysis and electron microscopy as well as workshops and storage areas are located in the basement. They directly connect to the delivery and parking level.

The institute’s garden in the southern part of the site functions as a generous green space mediating between the architecture of the new building and the adjacent institute buildings from the seventies. A guesthouse designed as a freestanding ”residential cube” comprises ten guest rooms, communal spaces, and the housekeeper’s flat.

The materials and finishes used for the reinforced concrete framed structure support the general conceptual ideas. Exposed concrete and aluminium-glass-façades dominate the outer appearance and render the building a contemporary research facility. The transparent steel-and-glass roof canopy with sun sails on the inside elegantly spans the light-flooded atrium. According to the point of view, season and daytime, it traces changing patterns of shadows onto floors and walls. This effect is supplemented and enhanced by a media/light installation by Dietmar Tanterl.