Construction progress on new laboratory building

Extensive construction work has begun on a new laboratory building on the north campus of the Fritz Haber Institute. On the historic site of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fibre Chemistry, founded in 1920, research will be conducted on nanostructured materials for electrocatalysis and thermal catalysis. The new laboratory will be used by FHI Director Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya and her department of Interface Science.

The state-of-the-art laboratory building is being built directly on Brümmerstraße opposite the "Freie Universität/Thielplatz" underground station. The new infrastructure will significantly improve the conditions for catalysis research. Catalytic processes are an important prerequisite for the efficient production and conversion of green energy sources, for example the generation of. hydrogen from green electricity.

Currently, the excavation pit is being secured with heavy equipment. For example, large steel beams are being driven into the ground with the help of a large pile driver. These double-T piles are the first part of the so-called Berlin shoring. The steel girders are driven about 12 to 15 metres into the ground. Crosswise wooden planks are used to protect the excavation pit from soil slippage. Once the excavation pit has been completed, the building structure will be constructed using in-situ concrete. The new building is scheduled for completion at the end of 2023. Construction began in March of this year.