In Innsbruck:

The next mega project is in the starting blocks

The latest visualizations of the House of Physics show what the mega-building will look like.

(Bild: mohr niklas architekten)

After Campus Innrain and the Police Security Center, BIG is building the House of Physics in Innsbruck. Test drilling is currently underway in the west of Innsbruck, with construction due to start in spring 2025. The lead time was around 20 years, so there is still hope for the MCI. 

The House of Physics will be a large and modern center for the natural sciences in Innsbruck. It will be built on the Technikerstraße campus of the University of Innsbruck and is scheduled to open in the winter semester of 2028. The architectural competition called for the building to be integrated into the existing campus in terms of urban planning, while at the same time creating a particularly climate-friendly new university building. These requirements were met by the architectural firm "mohr niklas architekten". 

Car garage gives way to a parking space for bicycles
A light-flooded entrance area, a two-storey lecture hall for over 300 people, seminar and practical rooms, offices and laboratory space are planned on around 28,000 square meters of net floor space. The laboratories take up the largest area in the House of Physics. They are spread over four levels, with vibration-sensitive experiments taking place in the basement and on the first floor.

Lots of greenery and light-flooded interior spaces are intended to ensure a high quality of life. The aim is to achieve certification

(Bild: mohr niklas architekten)

Two inner courtyards provide natural light, some of which reaches down into the basement. An existing single-storey garage is to be converted into a covered bicycle parking area for 115 parking spaces. A square with steps will also be created in the direction of the Haus der Physik, which will be available as a lounge and communication space.

Energy efficiency will be achieved through compact construction, minimal use of space, photovoltaic systems and heat recovery. The aim is to achieve klimaaktiv Gold certification, the highest building standard for sustainable construction. A green space concept, which includes shade-giving trees, shrubs and grasses, is being planned.

Nobel Prize for Zeilinger as the absolute highlight
The University of Innsbruck has a physics department that is highly visible internationally in the three fields of quantum physics, ion physics and astrophysics and regularly attracts attention with its research successes. This is also demonstrated by the Nobel Prize for Anton Zeilinger in 2022. Zeilinger carried out the essential work for this at the University of Innsbruck in the 1990s.

Facts and figures

• The House of Physics is designed for around 850 students and 500 employees of the University of Innsbruck. The Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft is investing €180.8 million in the new building, which will be refinanced by the Ministry of Science through rents.
• The necessity for the construction project is due to the increasing number of students in Innsbruck and the increased demands on university buildings. Institutes that were previously spread across the campus will be housed in a new building.

The number of students is constantly increasing
An exceptionally high number of international awards such as numerous ERC grants and FWF Start Prizes, two Wittgenstein Prizes, the Micius Prize and the John Stewart Bett Prize show that the physics institutes at the University of Innsbruck are now among the best in the world - which can also be seen in the strong increase in student numbers over the past ten years.

After years of very difficult spatial working conditions, this department is now receiving a correspondingly modern and well-equipped new building. The lead time was also not without its challenges: it took around 20 years from the idea of a new building to the start of construction.