Topping out ceremony for Technical Chemistry
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) celebrates the latest topping out ceremony: At FAU Campus Erlangen (South), laboratories, workshops and offices are being built for Technical Chemistry on an area of more than 5,500 square meters. The building at the cutting-edge of technology is part of High-Tech Agenda Bavaria.
The new building for Technical Chemistry offers pioneering infrastructure for the Chairs of Chemical Reaction Engineering (CRT), Thermal Process Technology (TVT) and the Erlangen Catalysis Resource Center (ECRC). The new building covering approximately 5,500 square meters is to become home to new research and teaching areas meeting the specific requirements of the three Chairs. The building should be handed over to FAU in mid 2027.
A modern and flexible research building
The five-storied building is an important component in the master plan for the continued development of the Faculty of Engineering at FAU Campus Erlangen (South). With approved total costs of 142.6 million euros, the project meets all the prerequisites for a modern and flexible research building. It will be home to technical laboratory facilities, numerous special laboratories, workshops and offices. For instance, it will include a high pressure laboratory that safely channels overpressure via a pressure relief channel in the case of severe reactions. Dangerous substances and larger quantities of gas are safely stored in a one-storied external storage area parallel to the main building.
The high quantities of air required for safe operation of the laboratories are generated via highly efficient heat recovery systems on the fourth story of the building, which is reserved for technical purposes. The building is heated via the district heating network from Stadtwerke Erlangen, that has recently been installed in Immerwahrstraße. The flat roof will be covered in vegetation and solar panels to make a further contribution to the building’s sustainability.
Reactions from politicians and the university
Bavaria’s Minister for Housing, Construction and Transportation Christian Bernreiter: “This new building is proof that we can meet the highest standards of excellence. The Erlangen State Construction Office is creating optimal conditions for teaching and learning. We are making a major contribution to Bavarian high-tech science, hydrogen research and the production, storage and disposal of chemicals.”
Bavaria’s Minister of Science Markus Blume: “Chemistry is a flagship discipline in Erlangen. With the new building for Technical Chemistry it is branching out into a new dimension: we are investing more than 140 million euros from our High-Tech Agenda into a genuinely high-tech building. Six stories covering a total of 5,500 square meters will provide space for highly specialized laboratories and offices for cutting-edge research in Erlangen. This is a further stage in our modernization campaign involving roughly 2 billion euros investment in our flagship university in Middle Franconia. FAU sets scientific standards. One thing is clear: the chemistry is great. And that is not all! These pioneering achievements are not the result of chance, they are the result of a successful mix of innovative ideas, ambition and dedication to the cause.
Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann: Coming from Erlangen myself, I am proud to see my home town continuing to develop into a center of cutting-edge Bavarian research with the new Technical Chemistry building. It will strengthen Erlangen as a location for pioneering research now and in the future. The investment is money extremely well spent.”
FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger: “The topping out ceremony for the new Technical Chemistry building marks a further important milestone for the site development of FAU as a whole. The new high-tech building will soon provide researchers with laboratories equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology – a major benefit we have been waiting a long time for. Together with the neighboring buildings from the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HIERN) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Nanostructured Films (IZNF), the new Technical Chemistry building will continue to advance FAU Campus Erlangen (South) as a location for cutting-edge research and teaching.”
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