Groningen University of Groningen Faculty of Life Sciences
M I M I CR Y ‘Mimicry’ is the new building for the Centre for Life Sciences of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Groningen (UG). Architecture bureau WEST8’s urban development plan will in the coming years transform the Zernike complex in Groningen from a somewhat technocratic outpost of the UG into an Arcadian campus with strong, clear buildings in a leafy setting. This process also coincides with the reorganisation of the UG’s Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. ‘Mimicry’ is a response to the relationship between form and context, the building and the campus, the landscape and the water, the test beds and the animal houses, the welcome given to people and the home of their collaboration. The design is aimed at interaction, dynamics and flexibility. The building is located on the eastern edge of the Zernikeborg, by the canal and the nature area beyond. On the north side a space is reserved for the animal houses, and on the south side for greenhouses and test beds. The building can be viewed as a body rising out of the ground into the space of the campus. Its shape also makes the building partially disappear in the perspective and the rising ground level. The sight lines accentuate the open space rather than the mass of the building – the ‘gateway effect’ – and you look through the building rather than at it. Mimicry is a building whose functionality is determined by its extensive programme and, despite its scale, it does not form an impenetrable mass from the outside, but is open to the campus, open in its boundaries and logical in its construction. The programme of the Centre for Life Sciences refers to three spheres of research. Behavioural Sciences and Neurosciences on the north side, and the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies to the south, form the plinths at each side of a bridge that leads to the animal facilities and greenhouses. The ‘cellular’ researchers – the Biomolecular and Biotechnology Institute – make up the superstructure. The building therefore also suggests a body with both feet on the ground. The basic principle of the internal organisation is interaction. Where ‘corridors’, in the broadest sense, and particularly where human cooperation is important, it is apposite to make the building in such a way that one can cross it in a variety of circuits. We make a distinction between three separate areas, differentiated by their own specific characteristics. For the upper floors, an ‘extrusion’ model has been applied, where labs and offices can be located in two specific adjacent zones. The efficiency and flexibility of this model are enhanced by the addition of a third zone between them, where various support areas for the labs and offices can be situated. By adding open spaces and lateral
connections in the middle of the relatively deep wings, a spatial unity of the circuits above the storeys is achieved. Light from above through the open spaces, and views of sky, earth or water, connect this interior world of corridors with the world outside. The combination of laboratories, support areas and offices, together with the spatial and functional quality of the circuits, leads to a practical, light and lively whole that is extremely efficient both architecturally and in terms of its installations.
Client VGI University of Groningen Contractor Sternike v.o.f. (Strukton, Voortman, GTI) Project architect Rudy Uytenhaak Tanja Buijs Designteam Marco Romano Martin de Graaf Patrick Lensen Titia Jansen Thomas Bernhardt Joy Oostenrijk Jurgen Ditzel Jonathan van Leusden Edo Schrijver
Buildingtype Facultybuilding with 3 researchinstitutes and an educationscentre. Incl. Specialized biochemical labs, MRI, isotoplabs, electronmicroscopes, animalfacilities, aquariums and greenhouses . Area 36,000 m² (gross) ex. greenhouses 22,000 m² (net) ex. greenhouses Budget € 56,000,000 Start design 2003 Delivery 2009
situation
Š CIIID, 2006 areaview from the south-east
Š CIIID, 2006 north view
second floor
sixth floor
section of the southwing
© CIIID, 2006
© CIIID, 2006 interior impression of central hall
voids