Fundamental research today relies on instruments so sensitive that they must be cut off from the world. This challenge was at the center of the design of the Advanced Science Building, which will be erected on the EPFL campus in Ecublens from 2026.
The Kaan Architecten and Celnikier & Grabli Architectes offices (Rotterdam and Paris) won the study mandate launched in 2022. The building will offer state-of-the-art offices and laboratories on seven levels, including two underground, the Ecole Polytechnique said on Monday. Federal Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) in a press release.
Whether we are talking about quantum physics, nanotechnologies, biology, chemistry or materials, fundamental research today reaches such degrees of finesse that it becomes extremely complex to isolate measurement tools from external noise.
“If we want EPFL to remain at the forefront of research, it is essential to build a building offering the conditions required by these experiments, or even more,” explains Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, future president of EPFL, quoted in the press release. The Advanced Science Building (ASB) will fulfill precisely this role.
A central silo on springs
Saying “noise” in this context goes well beyond sound. Electromagnetic disturbances, physical vibrations, variations in humidity or temperature are all externalities that must be avoided in order not to distort experiences whose scale is sometimes that of the atom.
Combining these constraints with the development of a building capable of accommodating technological platforms open to the scientific community and twenty-six research groups – or up to 600 people – was an extraordinary exercise for the offices that participated in the parallel study mandate launched in 2022.
Among the solutions chosen is a central silo, mounted on springs and separated from the rest of the building, which brings together all the technology, inevitably generating various forms of disturbance. The circulation, preparation and experimentation spaces are organized around the silo, in successive layers.
A building to live in
The office spaces, which give pride of place to wood, are modular and open onto the campus, the lake and the mountains. They are supplemented by meeting spaces placed near the circulation areas, all elements which will make the ASB a welcoming and pleasant building, the square of which will be largely tree-lined.
“There are less than ten places offering such capabilities”, underlines Ambrogio Fasoli, associate vice-president for research: “All of them were visited during the development of our project, which allowed us to retain their best each time advantages and to avoid a certain number of pitfalls.
Costing around 200 million francs, the Advanced Science Building will be surveyed in 2025, before a construction phase which will extend from 2026 to 2029.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
