iDiv Leipzig

The new institute building is designed as a solitary structure, whose northern and western façades take up the important urban edges and thus fit into the existing structure. With its rounded corners, it fits in formally with the existing research buildings. However, with its explicit horizontal structure and unusual façade cladding, the building always stands out clearly as an independent structure.

The façade’s diamond-shaped cladding is made of stainless steel sheet. A special process was used to treat the façade in such a way that the refraction of light results in a constantly changing variety of colours.

With the horizontal, striking stainless steel sheets and the black-brown window bands in between, the leitmotif of the bee as a symbol of an important and significant organism is incorporated into the design.

Plans also call for special perforated plates, so-called photo perforated plates, with different motifs symbolizing the variability of the organisms.

During the planning phase, emphasis was placed on a compact building structure in order to optimize energy requirements. The building envelope was planned to comply with the requirements of EnEV 2014 as of 2016. Heat is supplied by a district heating station with a primary energy factor of 0.31. A medium-voltage system supplies the electric power and an emergency generator is provided in the event of a power failure.