Nickl & Partner Architekten

Underwater research at the harbour’s edge

We are pleased to have won the contract for the new research building of the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research in Rostock (IGD-R)!

The new building of the IGD-R at the Old Harbour in Rostock is the first step in the long-term development of the site into an Ocean Technology Campus (OTC) – an innovation campus for underwater research, which is to serve as a platform for academic and application-oriented research and development as well as private enterprises.

Our design creates a prominent high point on the edge of the harbour basin. Its volume reflects the geometry of the harbour and, in combination with the Technikum placed at a right angle to it, it forms a building complex that works just as well as a solitary building as a building block of the OTC that is to surround the central campus square in later development phases.

The façade consisting of vertically arranged aluminium swords symbolises the wave movements and reflections of water and thus establishes a connection to the world of underwater research.