HENKE + PARTNER won the project commission for BC-BH

HENKE + PARTNER won project commission in VGV procedure as general planner for internationally renowned research project at Charité Benjamin Franklin Campus and Freie Universität Berlin! 

Over the coming years, the State of Berlin, Charité and Freie Universität Berlin will jointly invest €78 million in the renovation of research and laboratory facilities and the restoration of the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology in Berlin-Lichterfelde in accordance with its status as a listed building. Charité, Freie Universität Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute are joining forces within the framework of the BC-BH to create an international flagship project in the field of life sciences research. The aim is to research the so-called ‘hallmarks of health’ that promote positive health in a preventive manner. Approximately 3,500 square metres of floor space will be available for this purpose in the future.

The institute building was designed and constructed between 1966 and 1974 by renowned architects Hermann Fehling and Daniel Gogel on behalf of the Free University of Berlin. The building on Hindenburgdamm is classified as ‘Brutalist Concrete Architecture’ and is listed as a historical building due to its significant contribution to organic and brutalist architecture in post-war modernism.

In order to enable state-of-the-art research, the building technology and research areas are to be modernised. New spatial solutions are also needed to create an interdisciplinary research platform that promotes innovation. At the same time, it is very important to treat the historic building fabric with sensitivity as part of a restoration that is appropriate for a listed building.

We look forward to this exciting task, to working with all those involved in the project and to the opportunity to jointly develop spaces for the research of the future!