The new building is connected with the university hospital through a bridge and integrates 270 clean rooms with four different hygienic levels spread across seven floors. One would definitely like to know what’s going on behind the multi-façeted and detailed façade. Instead, the gaze hits an iridescent shell, with no windows due to functional reasons, consisting of vertically arranged aluminum panels, all above a gray base. Peeking inside is obviously not wanted … 

Façade breaking open

The second look is definitely more exciting. In some areas the façade seems to literally break open; instead of the aluminum elements used in most areas, Ben van Berkel has inserted heavily curved panels in some, twisted within itself and turned towards the outside. The vertically arranged clusters of various widths create a three-dimensional pattern, depending on the viewing angle, its ambiguous game of showing and hiding giving an exciting hint on the research done inside. This impression is intensified even more through a colorful design of the inside parts of the aluminum elements turned towards the outside: For the lower area of the façade, yellow painted inside areas have been used, switching to green step by step towards the top to create a reference to the adjacent trees.

Colorful Atriums

The new building’s interior is similar in terms of multi-façetedness as the shell. Core element here are the large atriums in the form of two flat-headed asymmetric cones, guaranteeing a sufficient supply of daylight for the central area and also allowing for a clear opening of the labs through spiral stairs. The Southern atrium provides a larger floor area and gets narrower ending up in a relatively small skylight, the other one has been designed with a smaller floor area and gets wider towards a steeply ascending roof. Another striking design element is the color changing from bright yellow to red from floor to floor, creating a colorful moving spatial impression with flowing transitions, similar to the view from outside. A really exciting piece of architecture Ben van Berkel has staged here! It’s a pity that only those 18 employees the lab benefit from it.