CAMPUS MEDICINAREBERGET. After more than four years of construction, Natrium is completed and the intense move-in period has started. Top priority is getting learning environments equipped before the start of the semester on August 28.
“After many years of planning, we are on site in a fantastic building where we can come together and jointly develop our operations for many years to come,” says Göran Hilmersson, Dean at the Faculty of Science.
“We have had a constructive collaboration with Akademiska Hus and Skanska throughout the process and many employees have shown great commitment both in the construction project and in Natrium’s preparation project.”
The project started in 2016 when the vice-chancellor at the time decided on implementation according to the wishes of the faculty. The ambition was to create the best possible conditions for natural science education and research in the future, and the solution consisted of construction of a completely new building. None of the previous buildings had the capacity to gather such large parts of the faculty to enable important synergies. Moreover, the condition of the buildings would have entailed major renovations.
Göran Hilmersson continues:
“The fact that we are able to gather substantial parts of our operation at Medicinareberget means a lot. There is enormous potential primarily in collaboration between different branches of natural science research but also with medical research. Humanity faces a series of challenges. We want to contribute to the solutions, and we need to do it together with others.”
New colleagues
Eric Hanse, Vice Dean with responsibility for Sahlgrenska Academy’s premises and infrastructure, also looks forward to increased cooperation:
“We welcome the new colleagues and students from the Faculty of Science to Medicinareberget. When there are more of us on campus, finding various kinds of synergies becomes easier. A current example is the joint project that aims to create more study places in the basement level under the building for medical chemistry near Natrium.”
This study place project is a result of the discussions in the Campus Council for Medicinareberget. There, the two faculties, GU Real Estate and Sustainable Development, Akademiska Hus, the Biomedical Library and Campus Service meet and discuss common issues and development of the campus environment. The project has become possible thanks to the increased proximity between the faculties that Natrium brings. The new student environments will be open to all students and financed by both faculties jointly.
No ordinary building
Natrium is a technology-intensive building with advanced and specialized labs and learning environments, and offices, designed with flexibility so that they can be modified to meet the needs of the future. Natrium is the result of a close collaboration between the University of Gothenburg and Akademiska Hus. The building is designed by Kanozi Arkitekter and Link Arkitektur is responsible for the interior design. The Faculty of Science rents approximately 28,000 square metres.
The Faculty of Science now gathered on two campuses in Gothenburg. Since previous, a smaller part of the geographically dispersed science faculty was located on Campus Medicinareberget, in the Lundberg lab and in Zoologen.
Five departments and the Faculty Office
The opening of Natrium means a substantial increase in the faculty’s presence on Medicinareberget as the Department of Biology and Environmental Science, the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, the Department of Marine Sciences, the Department of Earth Sciences, the Department of Conservation, and the Faculty Office are moving in.
The move means that the faculty leaves Botanhuset, Geovetarcentrum, Lundberg Lab, Kemihuset och Zoologen. The Faculty of Science’s departments for Mathematical Sciences and Physics stay at Campus Johanneberg where they are integrated into Chalmers’ operations. The operations in Mariestad, Tjärnö and Kristineberg are not affected by the relocation.
BY: HELEN EASTERLING
