Sample and Vegetation Center

When designing the building, which will be completed in spring 2024, attention was paid to maximum space utilization with minimum space requirements. The first floor will accommodate both the areas for preparing test material and the functional rooms (toilets, showers, social rooms, offices). The service platform areas for handling and maintaining the necessary agricultural equipment as well as storage areas for fertilizers and pesticides are located in the former Wesselhalle building.

Relevant but subordinate areas, such as storage room for research-relevant samples, were relocated to the top floor, which was incorporated into the one-and-a-half-story main section. A storage area for soil samples from non-EU countries in accordance with art. 60 of the Plant Health Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 is also to be created here, which will become indispensable for the university in the future as an official requirement.

Sustainability will be comprehensively integrated into research, teaching and operations. In order to act in the spirit of the "sustainable university", the concept was developed in such a way that the greatest possible sustainability is achieved while at the same time reducing the costs of sustainability-related additional expenditure. To reduce "gray energy", the main building is to be constructed in concrete with natural insulation on the roof and facade, while the factory building is to be built using a timber frame construction. The energy supply is to be ensured by means of a photovoltaic system for electric power supply and for the operation of an air-water heat pump supported by solar thermal energy. The exchange with the university's own technology department will ensure future operation. In addition, the transfer of knowledge from the research results of the faculty's Renewable Resources department demonstrates how the University of Bonn, even as a traditional university, can operate and implement applied sciences from concept to realization.