Not Just a Spring Clean
The University is renovating and building - seven examples
The University of Bonn is home to 6,500 members of staff plus 42,000 students and doctoral students spread across some 370 buildings, many of which are in urgent need of renovation. The current investment backlog is estimated to run to some €2 billion, with up to €800 million needed for the next five to eight years of refurbishments alone. Most of the work will be done by the North Rhine-Westphalia state construction and real estate agency (Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, or BLB) in its capacity as the University’s landlord, while some construction is also carried out by the University itself. Today, we would like to introduce you to seven key properties on the three campuses of Poppelsdorf, Endenich and City.
Poppelsdorf Campus
Rotating cranes, the constant sound of pounding and rumbling of construction workers have been a part of life for many students at the Poppelsdorf Campus for the past ten years. A large number of new structures and renovations are planned on the former experimental fields of the Faculty of Agriculture. Today we present two new buildings.
P1 Teaching and Research Forum I+II
Start, completion: already started, by 2024
Estimated total costs (in € million): 55.0
Purpose: combines the idea of a central research hub with that of a science and communication center, complete with plenary and lecture halls, a library and seminar rooms. Builder: University.
Who will be working here: Economics and Clusters of Excellence ( including ECONtribute, Beyond Slavery and Freedom, the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM), ImmunoSensation2), HPCA and DiCe.
P2 Forschungsneubau des Zoologischen Forschungsmuseums Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) – Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels
Start, completion: already started, by mid-2023
Estimated total costs (in € million): approx. 45.0
Purpose: Museum Koenig, which enjoys close ties with the Department of Biology and is affiliated with the University as a private research institution, intends to undertake research here in the future. Among other things, the new building will have a data center, wet laboratories, a biobank, a cryogenic storage facility, spaces for collections and an extensive library.
Who will be working here: Museum Koenig plans to use the extension on the Poppelsdorf Campus to bring together several disparate institutions that are currently inadequately housed and strengthen the city as a center for research into biodiversity change through its cooperation with the University of Bonn. The construction of a public library will also provide a new space for learning on the Poppelsdorf Campus.
Endenich Campus
The Endenich Campus hosts the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and provides space for technology units and startups.There is a great need for improvement, especially in the older chemistry and biology buildings.
E1 Replacement chemistry building
Start, completion: already started, 2023
Estimated total costs (in € million): 37.2
Purpose: replacement five-story building for the chemical institutes. Approx. 17,750 square feet (approx. 1,650 square meters) for laboratories and approx. 6,500 square feet (approx. 600 square meters) of office space. Repairs are also being carried out to the Chemical Institutes, including enhancing fire protection and removing pollutants.
Who will be working here:
chemistry researchers and teachers. The building will also be used to alleviate the pressure on the existing building at a later stage.
Central Bonn Campus
The central University campus plays host to the main building with the Faculty of the Arts and the Department of Law located at the Juridicum. The renovation of the main building in particular poses major challenges for the university.
C1 Main building
Start, completion: unknown, 2030
Estimated total costs (in € million): over €1 billion
Purpose: the main building will be out of service for several years. The work will focus mainly on fire protection, wiring and water pipes, some of which date back to the 1950s. Lecture halls, communication areas and offices will be brought up to date. Before the renovation can start, some of the framework conditions still need to be clarified and alternative space found for 10,000 students and 1,000 members of staff.
Who will be working here: after BLB has finished the renovation work, the Electoral Palace will once again be used as the University’s central building—this time with modernized rooms.
C4 Akademisches Kunstmusem
Start, completion: 2022–2025
Estimated total costs (in € million): 48.0
Purpose: the building houses the oldest museum in the city of Bonn and contains the world-famous collection of plaster casts, featuring 2,700 castings and 25,000 original finds.
Who will be working here: when BLB has finished its work, the famous collection will move back into the building designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It will also be able to accommodate the library, the offices and the lecture hall for Classical Archaeology, including providing access for teaching purposes to as many of the items in the collection as possible.
C2 Interim main building: Rabinstraße 8 (the former Zurich Insurance building) and Deutscher Herold, Poppelsdorfer Allee/Bonner Talweg
Start, completion, costs: both buildings have now been leased.
Purpose: to provide replacement bases while the main building is being renovated.
Who will be working here: The Humanities departments, which will need alternative premises during the main-building renovation, will be accommodated in Rabinstraße. The administrative staff from the main building are set to be housed in the former Deutscher Herold headquarters in Poppelsdorfer Allee. The move will also take account of the impact of people’s experiences of remote working on the need for space. Both buildings have library areas, seminar rooms and meeting rooms.
C3 Viktoriakarree/ “Forum des Wissens“
Start, completion: unknown, 2031
Estimated total costs (in € million): 128.0
Purpose: extending the main building following refurbishment.
Who will be working here: besides new library space, a place for people to come together and communicate will be created on a site spanning several tens of thousands of square feet, which will be open to members of the University and city residents. The University is also planning spaces for students to learn and work, smaller areas for shops and catering and ample bike parking.