The university continues to grow: a new laboratory building will be constructed at the Wechloy site from May, and a research and training centre for the Institute of Sport Science and university sports will be built on the Haarentor campus.
The budget board of the Lower Saxony state parliament recently approved the construction measures. The costs for the three-storey laboratory building on Küpkersweg total around 12.7 million euros, with the state of Lower Saxony contributing 8.17 million euros and 4.56 million euros coming from the university's own funds. The training centre on the south-western edge of the Haarentor campus will cost a total of 5.2 million euros, of which the state will contribute just under 5.1 million euros and the university will contribute 100,000 euros from its own funds.
"With these investments, we are improving the study conditions for the growing number of students and increasing the attractiveness of Oldenburg as a centre for teaching and research," said Lower Saxony's Minister for Science and Culture, Björn Thümler. "The new laboratory building is an important building block to enable the modernisation of the existing infrastructure during ongoing teaching and research operations, to contribute to an immediate improvement in the quality of studies, teaching and research and at the same time to promote the expansion of the natural sciences in Oldenburg. The Sports Research and Training Centre enables applied research at the highest level and strengthens the important interdisciplinary network."
Alternative accommodation during the refurbishment
The laboratory building will cover a total area of around 1,160 square metres and will initially be used by the Institute of Chemistry and the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences. The new building had become necessary because the natural sciences buildings in Wechloy, which date back to the 1980s, require extensive technical refurbishment - particularly with regard to fire protection. As the affected working groups will not be able to use their rooms during the refurbishment, the new laboratory building will initially serve as temporary accommodation. The building will also be urgently needed afterwards: Due to the steady growth of the university, there is currently a large shortage of space in the natural sciences.
The new three-storey building will be around 42 metres long, 18 metres wide and 13 metres high. Three practical laboratories, four laboratories for final theses including barrier-free workstations and a seminar room are planned for the two lower floors, while the second floor is reserved for offices and technology. Thanks to heat recovery, the use of photovoltaics and good thermal insulation, energy consumption is well below the legal requirements.
More space for movement analyses
The new sports research and training centre is being built behind the indoor swimming pool. It serves the Institute of Sport Science in particular and houses various laboratories and an exercise room measuring around 160 square metres. In the laboratories, researchers can carry out movement analyses or record ball throwing techniques, for example. The total usable area of the building is around 660 square metres.
In addition to the laboratories, the sports centre also houses additional changing rooms, equipment rooms and shower rooms for university sports. The university also relies on innovative technologies for the building's energy supply, such as a gas hybrid heating system with an air heat pump and a condensing boiler to support the hot water supply. Photovoltaic modules with a total area of 400 square metres are used to generate electricity.
The sports centre is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, while the laboratory building is scheduled to be handed over to the university at the end of 2024.
