Biotechnology park with a high-tech facade

The multifunctional building of the Biology Park in Brno is part of the largest university campus in Central Europe. The center of the modern biomedical industry impresses not only with its structural solution but also with its precisely structured facade.

The Masaryk University campus, located in close proximity to the Faculty Hospital Brno, has attracted doctors, scientists, top experts, and entire scientific institutions. This concentration of brain trust naturally attracts specialized biotechnology, chemical, biological, pharmaceutical, and IT companies that have decided to settle at this address.

This has successfully fulfilled the central idea of natural integration and the search for synergies, which led the architects from the A PLUS design office to win the international urban planning and architectural competition for the design of the university campus in 2000.

Currently, there are three faculties with similar focuses: the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Sciences, and the Faculty of Sports Studies. The university is complemented by administrative buildings, residential buildings, and civic amenities, which keep the campus alive 24 hours a day.

The complex also includes a biotechnology park, where specialized companies have found their base. One of the best reproductive clinics in Europe is also located here. The A PLUS architects emphasized that the high-tech focus of the tenants of the Biology Park should be evident at first glance. Therefore, they chose a facade made of EQUITONE fiber-cement panels for the cladding. In 2015, the Biology Park was recognized as the Building of the South Moravian Region in the category of industrial and technological buildings.

Universal Space

The construction of the biotechnology park consists of one underground and four above-ground floors. The design of the building was influenced by the steep slope of the land and the existing road communications. A characteristic feature of the multipurpose building is the cantilevered mass of the building on a supporting column. This column also serves the function of vertical communication, housing the elevators and distribution networks.

The load-bearing structure consists of a truss wall construction with peripheral beams, on which the individual floors are suspended. Thus, the entire mass of the building is based on a single support - the load-bearing column. This solution allows the object to be designed as an open space without internal columns. All necessary installations (from electrical wiring to computer networks to air conditioning) are routed in a double floor with the possibility of connections from any point in the building.

The A Plus architects approached the design of the building without specific requirements. They viewed the construction as an opportunity for scientific research. The object is designed to offer a universal space that can be easily adapted to the needs of future tenants. The result is a multifunctional building where any function can be accommodated - from clinical medicine to basic research to light manufacturing.

The Facade Suggests Character

The Biology Park is a place where the biomedical industry 4.0 is born. This fact is reflected in the modern design of the facade. The appearance of the building is defined by the external facade made of gray EQUITONE [natura] fiber-cement panels with a fine yet noticeable fiber structure, referencing its scientific research character.

According to the A Plus architects, the aesthetics of this building lie in the detail. Therefore, the facade was meant to be clear, clean, and industrially manufactured, but the material possibilities were limited by the budget. The facade panels made of EQUITONE offered the ideal ratio of performance to price. The architects thus achieved an exact expression and the desired color. The technology of industrially manufactured cladding is also part of the high-tech design and entirely consistent with the character of the building.

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