MARECUM – Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University

Our design, which was awarded third prize, establishes an overall urban development concept for the realization and ideas part of the competition for the Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg: Three new buildings are grouped together with the new buildings of the Mannheim Medical Technology (MMT) Campus around the topographic hollow where the historic boiler house stands, defining the site’s genius loci. The three individual buildings of our scheme are staggered in height and united by a shared plinth with an internal pedestrian axis that, as built topography, follows the conceptual logic of an exterior stair and compensates for the height differences in the terrain. Consequently, a forum emerges as a green space around the boiler house.

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Transparent connecting elements mediate between the buildings, and inside, atriums form vertical links that establish connections between the ground level and the communication zones of the various research areas. The result is an organism for contemporary research work that is interconnected vertically and horizontally to unify the diverse functions it houses: research and teaching, laboratory areas, and the European Center for Angioscience (ECAS).

The masonry architecture of the boiler house and other prominent buildings along Röntgenstraße define built surroundings dominated by brick, which is also adopted for the facades of the new buildings. With their proportions, the facades evoke of the site’s industrial past, yet radiate openness and flexibility for future-oriented and dynamic research efforts.

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Competition
07 2020 / 3rd prize

General planning
wulf architekten gmbh
dr. heinekamp Labor- und Institutsplanung GmbH

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Visualizations
Aron Lorincz Ateliers

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