new construction of a laboratory for biomedicine on the campus of the University of Luxembourg, surrounded by the industrial structures of the former Belval steel production site

Architectural concept
The ‘House of Biomedicine’ is to be understood as a simple, clearly structured cubic building that reflects its functional purpose. It is framed by the steel structures of the former blast furnaces and by the ‘incubateur d’entreprises’ building, separated from the latter by only the highway and structured in such a way that the two buildings can in future be connected via a glass footbridge from the second floor.
The building is displaced by approximately 5 m in the southern direction in relation to the ‘incubateur’, resulting in its two-storey entrance area being easily recognisable and identifiable from the access road and the building maintaining a distinct street address despite the high building density. In its footprint, the structure corresponds exactly to the site. It is 28,1 m long, 15,7 m deep and 27 m high. It has a gross floor space of 3.890 m².

Façades
Three sides of the façade appear relatively closed, with merely the western façade opening up widely, boasting room-high glazing for the laboratories and offices. The necessary technical openings are covered by a lamella structure, which has the same size as the glazing. The glazing, which is flush with the façade, furthermore enhances the monolithic appearance of the brightly plastered building.

Use
The space allocation plan was developed with the building contractor to facilitate the technical implementation of the desired high degree of flexibility in terms of fitting out the laboratory areas. The eight-storey research building uses almost three entire floors to accommodate the necessary building and research technology. Out of the remaining five floors, one is designed to house offices but has been preinstalled to be used as a laboratory floor in future. The floors are clearly structured and reflect the high functional demand of the building. Vertical and horizontal infrastructures, necessary auxiliary functions and a conference room – in each case at the end of the corridor, above the building entrance – are all located to the east. Joined to this is the disjunctive ‘technology track’, which consists of vertical utility shafts and access paths to the laboratories.
The laboratory rooms with preinstalled documentation and research areas are located to the west.

Materials and colours
The predominant materials used inside the building are exposed concrete surfaces and rubber floor coverings. The clear atmosphere created by the grey floors, white walls and ceilings is given a visual accent by the strong colours chosen for the seating, timber doors, signs and built-in furniture.
The floor covering of the exposed concrete stairwell features a warm yellow colour. The lounge is designed as a walk-in oak structure, glass partition walls allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the building.

client Le Fonds Belval (building) / University of Luxembourg (interior)
planning services WW+ general planning, complete architecture services, interior design and project management for interior installations
partner: civil engineering gk engineering, Esch-sur-Alzette (LUX)
partner: technical engineering Luxengineering Bevilacqua & Associés, Luxembourg (LUX)
planification laboratories arc2lab architekten, Munich (GER)
general contractor CLE, Strassen (LUX)
production and installation laboratories Waldner, Wangen im Allgäu (GER)

Photos
© Bohn Foto&Design
© Linda Blatzek Photography