LAB 48, LabCampus, Munich Airport
Situated north of Zentralallee at the Besucherpark S-Bahn stop, the LabCampus consists of four car-free clusters of eight buildings each. In the westernmost of these clusters, which are traversed by an elongated green strip, the "Walkway", is the new building LAB 48 designed by Auer Weber. Its 29,400 square metres of floor space are located entirely above ground; a basement could be dispensed with, primarily due to the existing multi-storey car park in the immediate vicinity.
The varied volume, the high structural density, the irregularly shaped inner courtyards and the small-scale structure of the rental units lead to a pleasant closeness that instinctively gives rise to the impression of an inner-city commercial complex. This impression is enhanced by aluminium panels coated in four different colour tones, whose deep-matt plaster-like grain structure ensures an extremely pleasant feel. The interplay of all these factors means that LAB 48 reflects in a scaled way the variety of purposes anticipated for the entire quarter, while the interlocking structures depict the network concept of the building and its intended users.
Elegant design restraint
Designed as a spacious central distribution area to the offices, the lobby, which is flooded with light thanks to a glass roof, is dominated by walls and ceilings in exposed concrete. The imperfect surfaces of class-SB2 exposed concrete, which show signs of having been worked upon, contrast harmoniously with the filigree window profiles of the facades and the floor-to-ceiling glass walls of the showrooms and meeting rooms. The colour scheme of the foyer is restrained, with only the signs providing colour accents in the form of oversized orange letters pointing the way to the rental areas.
Placing the installations in the raw ceiling meant more planning effort, but in the long run enabled some significant advantages: Dispensing with a technical level below the raw ceiling reduced the total volume and thus the amount of material used. Compared to conventional heating systems, concrete core activation allows for significantly lower flow temperatures and thus saves valuable heating energy. Finally, lightweight partitions can be easily placed anywhere in the rental units – without having to take into account complicated cable routing. This increases flexibility for users.
