MobileLifeCampus Wolfsburg, Architect, Research Campus Images, School

Wolfsburg Building, Germany : MobileLifeCampus

New Building in Germany design by Henn Architekten

page updated 11 Aug 2017 with new photos ; 5 Feb 2010

MobileLifeCampus

Location: Wolfsburg, Germany
Date built: 2006
Design: Henn Architekten

Photos: H.G. Esch

MobileLifeCampus Wolfsburg

The central idea behind the design is an encircling, crossed over and apparently never-ending band. Cast in concrete, it picks out the tectonics of the buildings as a central theme. It is the constructed transformation of a matrix, the translation into concrete form of the idea to generate knowledge in rooms that are formed by overlays and intersections.

The structural and organisational heart of the MobileLifeCampus is at the centre. The campus has a glazed-over atrium that rises over four floors and to which all paths lead. Open staircases permit direct contact and communication with each other. Conscious linking of the pathways underscores the openness of the campus. The seminar rooms are freely grouped around the atrium and extend upwards, to varying heights, into the centre.

Gross floor area GFA 25.000 sqm
planning 2002-04
construction period 2004-06

MobileLifeCampus, Wolfsburg – more information

November 19, 2003 saw the digging of the first turf for the initial building phase of the Mobile Life Campus. The forward-looking project merges the “School of Economics and Business Administration”, “School of Science and Technology” and the “School of Humanities and Social Sciences”, thus creating the base for a new type of research campus.

The master plan sees five main buildings as well as a boarding house and a communication forum for the 15-ha large area. The basic structure of the buildings is that of a folded band in which – integrated into the folding structure – the horizontal storey levels are embedded. The diagonal campus road leads toward the central agora and simultaneously serves the opening up.

The building’s structure is reflected in the façade, designed as a solid tie in the interplay with closed and open surfaces. The inside is marked by a glass-roofed atrium in which the design has been rendered visible through open staircases. The atrium serves as the main gathering point as well as a place for informal communication. The building’s dimensions are: length 165 m, width 5 m, height 23 m. A meadow with some 500 apple and cherry trees marks the facility’s landscape.

German text:

MobileLifeCampus Wolfsburg

Deutschland

Der Leitidee des Entwurfs für den MobileLifeCampus liegt ein umgreifendes, gekreuztes und scheinbar unendliches Band zu Grunde, stellvertretend für die interdisziplinäre Verbindung der Fachbereiche der Elitehochschule. In Beton gegossen thematisiert es die Tektonik des Gebäudes. Es ist die gebaute Transformation einer Matrix, die Umsetzung der Idee, Wissen in Räumen zu generieren, die durch Überlagerungen und Überschneidungen entstehen.

Im Inneren ist das bauliche und organisatorische Zentrum des MobileLifeCampus das mit einem Glasdach überspannte Atrium, das sich über vier Geschosse erstreckt und zu dem alle Wege führen. Offene Treppen ermöglichen unmittelbare Kontaktaufnahme und Kommunikation. Bewusste Vernetzungen der Wege unterstreichen die Offenheit. Die Seminarräume sind in freier Anordnung um das Atrium gruppiert und ragen auf unterschiedlichen Höhen in das Zentrum hinein.