Basel Biozentrum

DESCRIPTION
Construction site 1 marks the center of the Schällemätteli campus. At the same time, it is part of a larger green corridor connecting Petersplatz with St. Johannspark. The design of the new Life Sciences building as an ensemble of three freestanding structures attempts to respond to this urban setting by capturing the spatial focus of the area without occupying it. The programmatically differentiated buildings—a lecture hall building with a cafeteria and library, and the iconic laboratory high-rise (Biozentrum)—refer in their placement and volumetry to the American campus as well as to the traditional constellation of sacred buildings and campaniles in Italy. The university computer center, as the third building, completes the building group and complements the previously closed northern base facade of the existing pharmacy center. The newly created central outdoor space will be planted with robinia trees. In addition, stone paving runs through the entire new building complex and the ground-floor connection to the pharmacy center, defining pedestrian and bicycle connections within the campus. In addition to the underground bicycle parking, there are corresponding parking spaces at the edges of the Life Sciences Ensemble.

lecture hall building The centrally located lecture hall building has a cafeteria on the ground floor, which faces both Spitalstrasse and the campus. The lecture halls are located on the first floor. The specialist library and the upper entrance to the large lecture hall are located on the second floor.

laboratory tower The classrooms and practical training rooms are located on the two base floors of the laboratory tower (Biozentrum). Above these are the standard laboratory and office floors, topped by the technical floor. The open structure with the two access cores on the periphery allows for any conceivable organization of the laboratory, office, and ancillary rooms. Conversions can be carried out individually at any time. Goods and people are routed separately to the different floors. Rooms with special uses (isotope laboratory, animal rooms, NMR) are centrally located in the basement and can be quickly reached from all floors.

University Computer Center The three above-ground floors of the University Computer Center house the offices, while the three underground floors house the computer rooms.

Facades
The facade of the lecture hall building consists of metal windows. The lecture halls themselves are clad with a translucent curtain wall of thinly cut natural stone, which allows diffused light to enter during the day and creates a glow towards the outside at night. The facades of the laboratory tower and the university computer center consist of aluminum windows, partially with integrated stone veneer. The fall protection for the escape balconies is provided by metal grilles of various designs and mesh sizes, which vary the appearance of the laboratory high-rise.