Move to the new BSS and GLC buildings is well underway
The new BSS research building in Basel and the GLC in the centre of Zurich are now ready for occupation. The construction work took longer than planned, but the time has finally come: staff from the BSSE, HEST and ITET departments have begun to move in.
Anyone entering ETH’s two new research buildings – the BSS in Basel and the GLC in Zurich – will immediately notice that the interiors are taking shape. The buildings are now filled with life. Researchers are setting up their laboratories and offices, technology platforms are accessing their research infrastructure and new spaces for teaching are being created. Most students will start the semester in September at the new location, following a staggered move for professors, researchers and staff.
The general contractor handed over the GLC to ETH Zurich in April 2023 and the BSS in May 2023. The ceremonial openings of both buildings are scheduled for spring 2024.
“I am delighted that we are now able to provide our researchers and students with two new research buildings,” says Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure at ETH Zurich. “This modern research infrastructure not only offers more space, but also enables the expansion of cutting-edge research at ETH. I am aware that repeated postponements of the opening have resulted in the affected departments and their research groups facing major challenges in terms of project and space planning. So I am all the more delighted that we’re finally able to move in now.”
BSS – for the Biosystems of the future
The new BSS laboratory and research building in Basel is the new home of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE). Integrated into the Schällemätteli campus together with the life sciences institutes of the University of Basel and the surrounding university clinics, ETH Zurich is now right next door to one of Europe’s largest research alliances in the field of life sciences.
The new proximity will further simplify D-BSSE’s existing collaborations with numerous local research partners and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In turn, Basel as a research location will benefit from ETH’s expertise in engineering and the exact sciences such as physics and mathematics.
The new research location, whose eight floors offer a total of 39,000 m2 of space, will be used by approximately 350 D-BSSE employees and up to 250 MSc students. A Science Lounge on the top floor offers space for meeting, sharing ideas and teaching. In addition, many areas of the building are open to the public, who are invited to enter into dialogue with researchers.
The complex research building was designed by the Munich architecture firm Nickl & Partner. Construction work began in 2017 and was completed in early 2023.
Due to the delayed completion, it was decided that teaching in the new building would not begin until 2023.
GLC – for the health of tomorrow
The new GLC building in Gloriarank offers space for the D-HEST and D-ITET departments, creating a modern development and laboratory building that will bring together teaching, research and translation in the fields of health, medicine and medical technology.
Together with other interdepartmental platforms, such as the Digital Trial Intervention Platform for clinical research, the departments can dedicate themselves to medical research in state-of-the-art, highly specialised laboratories. The GLC will also conduct fundamental research with a focus on rehabilitation and health. Sample processing options are also available.
Researchers and students have at their disposal 22,550 m2 of space – of which 5,850 m2 is laboratory space – 240 new workstations and five modern seminar rooms.
The GLC was designed by Zurich-based Boltshauser Architekten and won the Arc Award in 2022. Construction work began in 2015, with completion delayed until 2023 for various reasons which have not yet been conclusively determined.
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