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Press releases 2020
The extension of our building is progressing rapidly

The extension of our building is progressing rapidly

Jun 19, 2020

The module construction completion meeting took place yesterday

When the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen was founded in 1992, the handful of employees at that time did not even have their own building. Almost 30 years have passed since then and after the institute building was constructed in 1996, it has grown steadily. Now, we are going one step further: In the last few days and especially at night there was a lot of activity in the area around our institute, roads were closed, huge cranes placed red-coloured highlights into the skyline of the technology park. A new part of the institute is created.

The new building (© Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, K. Matthes) — The modules were assembled within only one week (© Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, K. Matthes)

How did it happen so fast? The new building is a modern modular construction. Cadolto, a company from Cadolzburg near Nuremberg, is our construction partner for this extension. The specialists for module construction prefabricated the 29 individual modules in their factory in Bavaria and then transported them to Bremen and assembled them here within only one week. An impressive achievement!

Now the shell is finished and the construction workers are travelling back to their homes. “This extension of our building has pilot character for the Max Planck Society,” emphasized Rudolf Amann, director of the institute, on the occasion of yesterday's completion of the modular building. “It is the first modular construction for the MPG. Excellent craftsmanship creates the space for excellent research here. We look forward to using the new premises as soon as possible.”

Planned by the architecture firm Joesten and under the auspices of the Max Planck Society, about 600 m² of new offices, laboratories and community rooms will soon be at our disposal to expand and advance our research. The new part of the building will first provide us with some extra space during the corona restrictions then be home to two to three working groups and a parent-child room.

But one thing at a time. First of all, the shell is finished and the roads in the surrounding area are open to traffic again. For most of the employees of Cadolto, it's back to Nuremberg, while others are getting down to the interior design. The handover is scheduled for the beginning of October. We'll keep you posted!