Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
The Energy Lab 2.0 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is an intelligent platform set up to explore the interplay of components in the energy systems of the future and, in particular, to speed up the energy transition in Germany through the integration of renewable energy in the production of electricity.
Energy Lab 2.0 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology won a recent 2021 Green Good Design® Award from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
Electrical, thermal, and chemical energy flows, as well as new information and communication technologies are combined in a cluster of facilities.
Project partners are the Helmholtz Centers, the National Aeronautics and Space Research Center of the Federal Republic of Germany (DLR), and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ).
The new construction on a site formerly used for experiments with solar energy provides an attractive, high-quality, and flexible location for this research.
The detached building has the appearance of a homogenous unit with a translucent building envelope made of polycarbonate that allows the wooden construction on the interior to shimmer through and accommodates an ample, column-free test hall as well as a two-story office wing.
The main approach in the central zone of access leads between the offices and the hall, alongside a lightweight glass wall, into the building, allowing generous views between these building sections. The right side opens up onto a hall, while the office spaces are aligned on the left. The control station, the test preparation area, the meeting rooms, and the auxiliary rooms are also located here. A stairway leads to the upper story in the building center, where additional office and preparation rooms are located. The rooms allocated to the test areas are adjacent to the hall atrium and provide direct views into this open space.
The test hall and the saw-tooth roof are generously clad with translucent polycarbonate plates, which allow a consistent amount of daylight to enter the entire test area. Adjacent assembly areas for technical construction elements with large thermal loads are not part of the building envelope’s energy system but instead, with their slatted facade, ensure consistent heat removal and ventilation of the construction elements.
The material of the hall incorporates references to the neighboring buildings with their industrial character.
Window openings set in specific places in the office facade enable a selective illumination of the interior spaces with their unobtrusive design. While here wood and simple glass facades are the dominant design element, the hall is characterized by the polycarbonate facade and the wooden construction of the saw-tooth roof.
Project: Energy Lab 2.0 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Architects: Behnisch Architekten
Design Team: Jörg Usinger, Kari Silloway, and Nevyana Tomeva
Client: Facility Management KIT
Photographer: David Matthiessen
