The new building for the DZNE, where the similarities and differences of various brain diseases are studied, is located on the southern edge of University Hospital’s Venusberg Campus in Bonn. With a usable floor area of approximately 16,000 square meters, the DZNE provides optimal scientific conditions for an international team of more than 500 employees and visiting researchers.
The building volume is divided into three distinctive, organically shaped individual buildings. These form a coherent ensemble with generous intervening outdoor spaces. The tripartite division corresponds exactly to the internal functions: the entrance building with all the general facilities – which include an auditorium, a cafeteria, a library, and the clinical research department; the central research building with all the laboratory facilities and offices; and the preclinical institute. The three buildings are joined by hinges that can be used as meeting points.
The site’s defining element is a pine forest. Despite the sizable volume of construction, the buildings are successfully integrated within the forest thanks to the shapes of the buildings and their facade design. Even though the workstations are up to 17 meters away from the facade, the unique setting within the forest can be felt everywhere. This feeling is underscored by the striking facade of glass panels, which thematizes the forest by reflecting it – both inward and outward – and by taking on the colors of its foliage, which change with the seasons, through the varied hues of the glass.
With their flowing contours, the three-story buildings reinforce the impression of openness and transparency and emphasize the special status of the DZNE as the culmination of the University Hospital campus. Whereas the ensemble opens out toward the forest to the south and east, the entrance building at the north establishes a clear presence and a distinctive point of arrival for the DZNE. Upon entering the building through the main entrance, one immediately perceives the forest – an impression that is particularly impressive because a thirty-meter-deep, four-story-high entrance hall lies in between. Inside and outside enter into a surprisingly strong dialogue.
The DZNE is characterized by its sustainable energy concept and its extremely low life cycle costs.Our design is laid out to fulfil all relevant criteria for sustainable architecture concerning ecology, economy and socio-cultural aspects. It is the first laboratory building in Germany which has reached the gold German sustainability label BNB.
Material Used :
1. Elevators - Braun
2. Door and window fittings - FSB
3. Curtains, textiles - Kvadrat
4. Carpets - Object Carpet
5. Floor covering, interior construction - Pollmeier
6. Plastering, floor screed - BUS BauunternehmungSüd GmbH
7. Building shell - Eduard Züblin AG
8. Facade - NR Metallbau GmbH
9. Facade – sunblind - Schmidlin-TSK AG
10. Glassroofs - Velux
11. Furniture - Vitra
12. Laboratory furniture - Waldner
