At the research laboratory at Karolinska Institutet’s (KI), Biomedicum, you can turn the campus concept inside out from “house in a park” to “park in a house”. What you get is a building that is shaping the identity of a world-class scientific research environment.
The mission for Greenworks was to create energizing and peaceful environments throughout all leisure areas and to stimulate conversation between researchers from all over the world. The project came with entirely new challenges as well as opportunities by scale – 600 square meters of vertical greenery spread over 28 individual green walls. The main challenge was to create interesting and varied botanical designs which, for each green wall were integrated and adapted to the unique location. In addition, the difference in lighting conditions also had to be taken into consideration.
The contributions of Greenworks were lush and varied vertical gardens with contrasts in depth and colour surrounding kitchenettes with a strong focus on creating viable greenery sustainable for long-term maintenance. To simplify orientation in the symmetrical and large building, each green wall was created with a unique character. Greenworks vertical gardens which now extend over nine floors has reinforced C.F. Møller’s architectural design “Park i Hus” (“Park in a House”).
When the truly unique Biomedicum was completed, it received the award for “Building of the Year” in 2018.