Fraunhofer IVV

With the IVV extension building for the „Food“ section of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, a new facility offering 1,200 square metres of primary usable floor space has been created for a hygienic and GMP-appropriate (GMP = good manufacturing practice) food technology centre with laboratories, warehousing and offi ce space. Located on the outskirts of Freising, the new building is situated in a green, meadowy countryside, where it sits in the context of the rendered façades and tiled roofs of the existing two-storey buildings. The new building is linked to the existing buildings on two fl oors via a small entrance foyer. The technology centre on the ground fl oor is designed as a single, large space that can be fl exibly subdivided, while the laboratories and offi ces on the upper fl oor are arranged on either side of a corridor. The proportions of the building, number and height of fl oors, roof form and materials used were all specified in the legally binding land-use plan. By arrangement with the owner of the building and the urban design commission, permission was granted to choose different materials for the exterior. So, instead of rendering and red roof tiles, sand-colour, large-format ceramic panels were chosen for the façade and a roof covering in the same colour as an expression of an independent architectural language. The simple form and homogeneous colouration thus documents a new stage in the development of the Fraunhofer IVV. Not only this, but the architecture also makes a stand against the conventional prioritisation of uniform commercial buildings in the urban design of outskirts of the towns and cities. The uniform choice of materials for the roof and walls also establishes a link to the research carried out at the institute on the subjects of packaging, product development and process engineering in the fields of Food Ingredients, Functional Foils and Product Safety.