The Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology at Leipzig University is located in a district close to the city centre, whose institute buildings, built in 1879, have been gradually renovated in recent years. The new building for special laboratories, which could no longer be accommodated in the old buildings, complements the ensemble. Despite the high security requirements inside, the building was not to be isolated in the urban space, but to appear quite natural.
Our design for the extension was awarded 1st place in a competition in 2004. The new building is set as a cube with an edge length of approx. 19 metres on the corner of the building block. Alignments and heights are based on the surrounding old buildings. The openness and permeability of the quarter are maintained by the solitary position of the building.
The individual laboratory units are represented by approx. 3×3 metre windows in the façade, which consists of prefabricated reinforced concrete elements. A passage on the first floor connects to the neighbouring Institute of Biochemistry.
The building accommodates only laboratory rooms, while offices, storage, recreation rooms and classrooms are housed in the neighbouring old building.
The special laboratories housed in the new building could not be integrated into the existing buildings, such as sound laboratories, molecular biology laboratories, isotope and genetic engineering laboratories.
Source: Schulz und Schulz Architekten
Pictures: Gustav Willeit
