Teamwork against the clock

Barely begun and already on the home straight: At the groundbreaking ceremony in May 2021, there was nothing to see but green meadow at Irchel Park. Now, not even a year later, the shell construction of the new two-storey temporary laboratory building stands tall. The numerous preinstalled pipes for ventilation and air conditioning, and the fully equipped cold store, give some indication of the building’s purpose. “We are now working on the interior, and the laboratory fittings will soon be delivered,” says José Pedro Castro, Project Lead Implementation at Implenia, when we visited the site in April 2022.

The building will be handed over to the client ready to use this summer, with the new temporary laboratory building of the Functional Genomics Center Zurich (FGCZ) providing workspaces for around 80 staff and visiting academics from late autumn 2022. From then on, everything here will focus on genome research. The FGCZ is operated as a joint research and training platform by the University of Zürich (UZH) and ETH Zürich. In order to meet all the different working needs, there will be more than 20 different types of space over around 3,000 square metres. The equipment laboratories form the heart of the research platform, which is the only one of its kind in Switzerland.

Ambitious schedule

The schedule for the temporary building is tight from start to finish. Having come out victorious in the full-service tendering process, in April 2021 Implenia was granted the order for planning and execution; the definitive construction approval for the wood and concrete building came following various partial approvals in October. There is not much time left until the handover. But there is no sign of a rush when we visit the construction site. Why not?

Knut Brunier, Implenia Planning Lead for Full-Service Tendering and Planning, explains the success factors: “This extremely tight schedule is only feasible because we have been able to combine lots of construction tasks, because we are working closely and cooperatively with the excellent planning team, clients and users, and because we have a team on the ground that works in an agile way.” He argues that the fact that the planning team already knew each other from the project at Empa Campus Düsseldorf, where Implenia constructed a laboratory building, a multifunctional building and a multi-storey car park, also helped the entire process.

Special requirements – particular expertise

The temporary laboratory is a particular challenge for the team in terms of both the schedule and the complexity. The incorporation of low-vibration floors that were not planned from the start, ensuring the ideal humidity ratio, and designing the laboratory workspaces defined by the academic staff at FGCZ were just three examples. “We do not tackle a project like this every day. That makes it all the more beneficial that we have access to a range of skills and a very motivated and agile team,” says José Pedro Castro.

Modular sustainable

The building certainly looks as though it has been built to stay. But the usage concept is actually limited to 15 years. After this period, the genome research centre will return to its current location on the Irchel campus, which is to be used for other purposes and then renovated over the next few years. The temporary building therefore puts particular demands on sustainability. “We work with prefabricated wooden modules that are easy to dismantle again,” says José Pedro Castro. Individual components can also be reused or recycled separately. Last but not least, the building is being constructed to the Minergie P-ECO standard and is aiming for SGNI Gold certification.

Trust-based, flexible and collaborative: these are the three key terms for this kind of cooperation. “It starts with discussions with those responsible at the Construction Department of Zurich Canton and ends here with the team on the construction site,” says Knut Brunier. “Experience has shown once again that the earlier people become involved, the stronger their commitment to the project and the more efficient the collaboration.” In projects like the temporary laboratory at Campus Irchel, this is not only a welcome side effect, but an essential factor. Without everyone pulling together, it would be impossible to implement this project on such a tight schedule.