Research and Teaching Building of the University of Mannheim

The shape of the building is a consequence of the decision to re-establish the city’s characteristic block structure on the site, and doing so also augments and completes the urban backdrop as seen from the south, in combination with the Mannheim Palace, the Jesuit church, and the astronomical observatory. In this regard, the architectural stance embodied in the facade plays a particularly important role: the southeast corner of B6 has a decidedly calm and cohesive appearance. The main entrance to the new building is on the street, but it is designed as a passage to the interior of the block, allowing equal access from both sides.

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Mannheim University’s new research and teaching building is located on city block B6, atop the remains of the historic city wall. The spatial program comprises seminar and office areas designed for flexible use, student workstations, and spacious communication areas.

The distinctiveness of this project lies in its further development of the familiar perimeter block: starting from the typology of a university building with a number of seminar rooms and offices of different sizes, we have created a building that remains legible as a perimeter block yet also manages to clearly articulate the block’s interior thanks to the penetrations into the site. In this way, the outside and the inside of the city block enter into a new relationship.

In addition, this approach was also used to create an overall urban development concept for city squares A5 and B6.

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Competition
01 2013 / 1st prize

Start of planning
03 2013

Completion
11 2017 

Client
Land Baden-Württemberg, represented by
Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg
Amt Mannheim und Heidelberg, Mannheim

Location
B6, 30-32, 68159 Mannheim

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Construction costs
appr. 21 Mio. Euros

Service phases
2-9

Competition team
Berit Jennrich, Yeon Yung Choi, Aleksandar Kableshkov

Planning team
Sonja Schmuker (PL), Katharina Heß, Markus Burger

Local construction management 
Alber & Schulze Baumanagement GmbH, Stuttgart

Structure planning
Werner Sobek Group GmbH, Stuttgart

Landscape design
faktorgrün, Freiburg

Photos
© Roland Halbe (1-5, 8)
© Markus Guhl for wulf architekten (6)

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