Chemical Invention Factory TU Berlin
In 2020 ritchie*studio entered an open competition run by Phase Eins, from which 15 practices were invited to compete for the design of a new Green Chemistry Facility (Chemical Invention Factory) located centrally on the Charlottenburg campus, the largest campus of the Technische Universität Berlin. Partnering with Buro Happold’s London and Berlin offices we developed a new strategy for low-carbon laboratory design.
Our proposal for the Chemical Invention Factory sought to embody the Green Chemistry principles of economy, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and use of renewable materials. It does so by embracing the latest forward-thinking in responsible and sustainable architectural and laboratory services design and intended to provide a stimulating working environment of the highest quality promoting innovative research, social interaction and the exchange of scientific ideas. It achieves these objectives by the specific design strategies relating to site development, building orientation, economy of construction, clarity of functional organisation, use of appropriate materials, and an intelligent approach to the high degree of services required to accommodate the demands of modern laboratories.
The supporting structure is a hybrid solution, using materials efficiently and appropriately for the needs of the building. The above-ground structure uses timber based materials, including glulam beams and ceilings and walls made from cross-laminated timber to optimise material use. Modern methods of construction were proposed allowing a further reduction in the volume of wood material. The timber load-bearing walls provide additional functionality as they are part of the external envelope and internal partitions, reducing the carbon content of the façade and internal construction.
The building meets key anti-vibration performance criteria by ensuring that system stiffness, strategically placed in the structure, is matched with an efficient use of materials that minimize dynamically stressed structural members. The suspended wooden floors consist of cross-laminated timber floor panels that span between the regularly spaced glulam beams. These are dimensioned so that the VC-A vibration criteria are met in all laboratory rooms. The load-bearing wall solution gives the structure greater rigidity compared to a post and beam arrangement.
The design of the building carefully considers energy consumption and carbon emissions while providing a high-quality environment in which world-class chemistry can be carried out following the principles of Green Chemistry. Ultimately, we wanted to design the building as an example of a path to zero carbon emissions, and many of our suggestions would help deliver such an ambitious proposal. The approach to sustainability includes a series of steps that can be summarized into 3 components.
1) Minimize & Optimize
Avoiding energy consumption by appropriately planning the building massing, taking into account appropriate internal design criteria and ensuring efficient systems with energy recovery
2) Efficient networks
Connection to low-carbon district heating systems
3) Low and no carbon systems
Direct connection of low and zero carbon technologies to the building, including consideration of future adaptability to changes in the carbon factor of the electricity grid
