Institute For Transuranium Elements Karlsruhe
- locationKarlsruhe
- year2013
- clientEuropäische Kommission Joint Research Center
- BGF8.900 m2
- BRI38.000 m3
- PartnerPaul+Gampe+Partner GmbH
Graf Ingenieure
Expansion of Office Space for the Institute for Transuranium
The Institute for Transranium Elements is located inside a rigorously safe-guarded area. The task of the ITU is to provide fundamental scientific research for the protection of European citizens against the dangers connected to the handling and storage of highly-radioactive materials. During expansion and reorganization, the objective was to integrate the existing office and entrance pavilion from the 1960s.
The solitary pavilion was expanded to an entrance building that is 3 times the size of the original. Due to the double-sided, symmetrical addition of two building components onto the existing building and a new, complete façade shell, the individual building components have been blended into one. The continuous recess on the ground floor forms a clear and broadly visible entrance to the central access thoroughfare of the research campus. Light floods into the interior of the 120-meter-long and 40-meter-deep building from five courtyards.
The façade is formed from natural-colored materials such as glass and aluminum. The metal shell is flexible and alterable, and alludes to the rational and technical research work being carried out inside. The anodized, sliding folding shutters give the building a technical character, and continuously change the appearance of the building depending on the weather and how the workspaces are being used. In contrast to the deep and vertically structured outer façade, the inner courtyards are two-dimensionally and evenly glazed.
