Design of the new lecture hall building unveiled

A lecture hall and three seminar rooms housed in a new building, spread over more than 1,000 square metres of main usable floor area, will complement the campus in future. Today (29 August), Bielefeld University presented the winner of the competition for the new lecture hall building. The design features a bright spacious foyer, a lecture hall with daylight, and a façade in which wood is a distinctive feature. The building on “Konsequenz” road is to be completed in 2020.
 
The university has been growing for years due to the consistently high number of students and the largest personnel offensive in the history of the university, which will create more than 40 additional professorships (UNIplus). This calls for additional space. In addition to the construction of a new office building, which will be ready for occupation in autumn 2018, more space is now also being created for teaching. “We have been in need of additional teaching space for some time now. The new lecture hall building is therefore an important step for the development of the university,” says Rektor Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer.

Another reason for the construction of the lecture hall building is the Audimax in the main university building, as it will be temporarily unavailable due to modernisation. The risk assessment of the modernisation measures in the main building has shown that refurbishment of the Audimax will take longer than previously assumed, and it would be difficult to use it undisturbed. Instead of a cost-intensive interim solution in the form of a mobile lecture hall, the university decided in favour of a new lecture hall building.

The Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW (BLB) [building and real estate management authority] is the client regarding the modernisation of the main building and will make the funds that would have been necessary for a transitional solution available to the university for the construction of the lecture hall building. Construction costs are expected to amount to 6.5 million euros. The university will receive around 3.75 million euros from the BLB. The rest is being financed by the university. “The lecture hall building will provide us with more permanent space for teaching; a mobile building would only have been a short-term solution. I am delighted that the BLB is supporting us in our decision,” says Dr Stephan Becker, Chancellor of the University.

According to the current schedule, the Audimax can still be used until autumn 2019. The lecture hall building is to be completed in 2020. For this transition phase, the university is currently planning to use premises in the city and offer eLearning courses.

Fourteen architects' offices took part in the competition for the new lecture hall building, submitting designs from which a jury selected four favourites. The Münster architects’ office Behet Bondzio Lin Architects has been awarded the final contract. “I am delighted with the high quality of the designs submitted for the lecture hall building. We found both the functional and creative aspects of the winning design convincing. On the one hand, we will get the urgently needed teaching space, and on the other hand, the new building will also visually enhance our campus,” says Dr Stephan Becker.

The lecture hall building will be built on “Konsequenz” road between the new office building and the new building for Experimental Physics in direct vicinity of the main university building. The two-storey building conforms to the hillside location, which minimises the excavation work necessary. This, together with the materials used and the construction method, makes the building sustainable and ecologically viable. The technical concept also enables a high level of sustainability. Exposed concrete and wood are the dominant materials, extending from the exterior façade to the interior.   

Facts and figures of the new lecture hall building:
Completion: 2020 (scheduled)
Construction costs: 6.5 million euros (according to preliminary cost calculation)
Main usable floor area: 1,010 square metres
Client: Bielefeld University