Biozentrum Research Building University of Basel
BIOZENTRUM RESEARCH BUILDING UNIVERSITY OF BASEL
Ilg Santer Architekten
ARCHITECTS
Ilg Santer Architekten
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT UNIT
b+p Baurealisation
MANUFACTURERS
Karimoku New Standard, Regent Lighting Basel
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Aerni + Aerni
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Krebs und Herde
BUILDING PHYSICS
Bakus
ACOUSTICS
Bakus
LIGHTING
Licht Kunst Licht AG
PHOTOGRAPHS
Daisuke Hirabayashi
YEAR
2021
LOCATION
Basel, Switzerland
CATEGORY
Research Center
Text description provided by architect.
The University of Basel's Biozentrum is one of the world's leading institutes for basic molecular and biomedical research and teaching.
Located near the Rhine River, the Biozentrum's 72- meter-high tower comprises 19 floors - 16 above ground and 3 below.
A floor area of 23,440 square meters houses research facilities, lecture halls, seminar rooms, and scientific equipment for 400 researchers and 900 students.
The Biozentrum building by Ilg Santer Architects, Zurich, is the first part of the new campus site where all faculties will be concentrated in one place.
The chrome and glass facade refers to the technology inside the building. In the structural design, only the facade columns, the building services and the four cores in the tower are load-bearing.
The horizontal forces are transferred via frames in the form of Vierendeel trusses. By combining buildings in favor of a floor plan that is as open as possible in the center, allowing great freedom in the division of the various floor levels.
The top ten floors are dedicated to scientific research. Each floor can accommodate four research departments connected by a common meeting room.
Adjacent floors are connected by an open stairwell and meeting zone that serve scientific exchange, interdisciplinary research, and innovative ideas that arise from chance discussions.
Below the research floors, the university's computer center, IT services, and central services such as workshops, laboratory equipment, and media preparation fit seamlessly into the tower's basic structure.
Everything that does not fit into the floor structure, such as the large lecture halls or special laboratories, finds space in the spacious basement levels with numerous ancillary rooms, delivery, and underground parking.
The white-plastered, three-story entrance hall - 44 x 35 meters long and 13 meters high - offers added spatial value. Here, the architects have combined the circulation areas for lecture halls, refectory, and library in one space.
In this hall, the massive supporting structure in its inversion becomes a powerful and versatile interior space. Ilg Santer Architects see the hall as a publicly accessible urban forum for the entire campus.
Therefore, they have attached all public functions such as cafeteria, reception, lecture halls, library, and store to it.
The airy forum invites students to use it as a learning landscape as well.
