The center is part of the Institute of Economics and Labor Organization named after Frauenhofer and is engaged in the study of interdisciplinary workflows, so his building had to be exemplary in this aspect.
Laboratories and other research facilities combine with publicly accessible exhibition areas and a visitor route to form an open, free space. So, the departments are not separated from each other, but merge into a common strip of laboratories, and the working rooms smoothly flow into one another.
The visitor route leads from the multimedia lobby up the main staircase diagonally across the atrium. It is painted in different colors in the same way as on the facade the tones of the lamellas mark the functional zones inside.
Among the green elements of the project that earned it a Gold Certificate from the German Council for Sustainable Building (DGNB) are the lightweight BubbleDeck floor slabs (concrete slabs filled with hollow plastic balls) and room cooling and heating using the concrete core activation method.
The streamlined plan made it possible to save building materials compared to a rectangular building of the same area, and the proportion of glazing is only 32% of the facade (which reduces overheating), but due to the absence of lintels above the windows, sunlight gets far into the interior. All rooms can be ventilated by opening windows.
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