Faculty of Engineering gets a new identity

The Faculty of Engineering at Kiel University (CAU) on the Ostufer Campus in Gaarden will undergo a complete renewal in the next five years. The construction of the first two new buildings for research and teaching is already planned to begin in 2021, with a total investment cost of more than 33.3 million Euros. The basis for the redesign is an urban framework plan for the Faculty of Engineering, which was jointly signed today (26 November 2018) by the State Secretary for Science Dr Oliver Grundei, GMSH Managing Director Frank Eisoldt, CAU Chancellor Claudia Ricarda Meyer, Dean Professor Dr Hermann Kohlstedt and City Councillor Doris Grondke. The aim of the renewal is also to make the CAU’s Faculty of Engineering more internationally competitive regarding its buildings, and to open up the campus spatially towards the district of Gaarden.

"The Ostufer Campus is home to the Institute of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, as well as the Institute for Materials Science. Highly exciting research topics, which boost Schleswig-Holstein and its economy. However, this can only succeed under the right external conditions. In order to retain the location in the medium to long term, to expand it further and to develop it competitively, it’s important to strengthen it," said State Secretary Dr Oliver Grundei. "This requires redevelopment of the entire site. In the 'Faculty of Engineering’s Framework Plan', the decisive objectives are optimally linked together, and documented in writing."

GMSH Managing Director Frank Eisoldt said: “The path is the goal - this definitely applies for today’s signing of the framework plan. We only needed two workshops to give the Faculty of Engineering’s campus a whole new identity. Together with all the specialist and political involvement, we have made a decision on the urban redevelopment of the campus and the university’s fresh fixture in Gaarden. I think this is an incredible discussion and conversation culture on an equal footing.”

At the signing ceremony, CAU Chancellor Claudia Ricarda Meyer emphasised that the redevelopment of the Ostufer Campus must meet the requirements of modern research and teaching: "The current quality of the buildings and infrastructure at the Faculty of Engineering bears no relation to the excellent work being done on there. The transformation of the site from the 'Imperial Shipyard' of the 19th century into an innovative university campus of the 21st century is a huge challenge. The framework plan has now created the conditions required here, so that an inspiring environment can arise for the members of the Faculty of Engineering, with appropriate and flexible spaces for the changing scientific requirements. Equally, our Ostufer Campus should have open integration with the urban environment."

These goals also correspond with the ideas and wishes of the faculty members, said Professor Hermann Kohlstedt, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering: "We are delighted, that after the grant by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the new research building, the framework planning for the whole of our campus has now been completed. This gives us important planning security for our scientific, technical and student members. In addition to the new buildings and renovations, a lively campus is also envisaged, with green areas and student housing."

"From my point of view, it is important that renovation, remodelling and new construction at the Faculty of Engineering can be linked with urban redevelopment. If the insularity of the faculty can be overcome, and the campus opens up to the neighbouring district, then both sides will benefit from this step," said City Councillor Doris Grondke from the City of Kiel.

As the first measure towards implementing the framework plan, the Faculty of Engineering will receive two new buildings: at the corner of Elisabethstraße / Norddeutsche Straße there will be a new lecture hall building, containing not only lecture halls and seminar rooms, but also a specialised library and a café. It will become the new entrance to the Ostufer Campus, and is an important building block towards linking the faculty with Gaarden. A modern new research building with laboratories will be constructed for the interdisciplinary Center for Networked Sensor Systems (ZEVS). GMSH is currently searching for a general contractor for the structural implementation, through an EU-wide tendering process. Both new buildings should be completed by 2023, after which Buildings C and D should be demolished. This will give the Faculty of Engineering a new campus centre, and at the same time a potential building site, on which other new buildings could be constructed in the medium term.

The catalysts for the preparation of the Faculty of Engineering’s Framework Plan are the rising student numbers, increasing externally-funded research projects, and an acute need for renovation of the existing buildings. In order to make the campus more attractive in the long term for excellent research, teaching and transfer, representatives of the CAU, GMSH, the Ministries of Science and Finance as well as the City of Kiel together met with four nationwide architectural offices in two workshops, to develop the new urban framework plan, in which construction sites with building lines and construction boundaries, building heights and numbers of storeys, open spaces and traffic areas have also all been defined.