From 2020, a new and up-to-date university campus will start to take shape. Three large building complexes will be constructed in the heart of Jena. These will be home to the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, together with a ‘Natural Sciences and Pre-clinical’ branch of the Thuringian University and State Library (ThULB), a cafeteria and the new University Computer Centre.
Sheltered courtyards, green spaces and close proximity will foster contacts and make the Inselplatz site a central space for communication. “The new, urgently needed spaces in the city centre expand the University’s capacity for research and teaching. They also provide room for the necessary infrastructure, as well as for people to meet and communicate. This is extremely important, as science depends on interaction,” says Prof. Walter Rosenthal, President of Jena’s Friedrich Schiller University.
Currently, some of the University’s facilities are scattered around the city, housed in rented office buildings which no longer meet requirements. The new buildings will significantly improve educational and research activities. But it is not only the University that will benefit from the new campus – it should also be positive for Jena’s residents. For example, a multi-storey car park will be built adjacent to the computer centre, which will more than compensate for the loss of the existing parking spaces. The new campus will completely transform the public space in the centre of Jena and further strengthen the unique connection between the University and the life of the city.
The building contractor is the Free State of Thuringia and the user is the Friedrich Schiller University. The total cost of the construction project is 188 million euros, of which some 84 million euros will be provided by the European Union, from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This makes the Inselplatz development the second-largest university construction project in Thuringia after the Jena University Hospital. Construction is planned to start in 2020 and the buildings co-funded by the EU are expected to be put into operation by 2023. The remaining buildings will be completed by 2024/25.
The project has a long history, from the first planning application in 2011 to the two-stage architectural competition in 2017. The design by architecture firm CODE UNIQUE Architekten BDA with QUERFELDEINS from Dresden won the competition, in which 89 architecture firms took part. Detailed construction and cost plans have been available since the beginning of 2019. A particular challenge is to meet the high demands in the plans for energy efficiency, as the aim is for the buildings to be significantly more energy-efficient than is required under the German Energy Saving Ordinance. In this way, the state and the University undertake to use the buildings sustainably and with efficient energy use.
This page will be continually updated and expanded. As soon as construction has started, you will find here all the key information concerning the ‘Inselplatz Campus’.
