Final construction phase for Smart Logistics Cluster

Another significant milestone was reached on September 26, 2023 at RWTH Aachen Campus Melaten: the laying of the foundation stone for the third and final construction phase of the Cluster Smart Logistics. The smart building combines state-of-the-art laboratory space with workshop areas, offices, meeting rooms and event spaces. With around 13,000 m² of gross floor area, the third construction phase offers space for research, development and catering and promises to be an exciting chapter for the future of logistics and smart building. The building is the final development phase of the Cluster Smart Logistics, which is the first cluster to be completed on Campus Melaten.

Already, the RWTH Aachen Campus is a unique research landscape in Europe that is being developed with private real estate investors. “The Cluster Smart Logistics is the first Cluster on Campus Melaten whose structural development is now being completed thanks to the ongoing and trusting cooperation with Landmarken” says Dr. Klaus Feuerborn, Managing Director of RWTH Aachen Campus GmbH. “We are looking forward to the impressive building ensemble in a renowned location on the Campus-Boulevard.” The building will function as a real laboratory and has already attracted high-profile tenants and users, including RWTH Aachen University and other research partners in the campus ecosystem. The Center Smart Commercial Building in the Cluster Smart Logistics will operate a demonstrator on the first floor for testing and presenting new technologies in the field of smart building. The 800 m² demonstrator will serve as a multifunctional space for the application and testing of digital components in Germany’s innovation hotspot for smart building.

Plenty of room for innovation and creativity

Designed by agn Niederberghaus & Partner GmbH (Ibbenbüren), the concept of the six-story building with rental units ranging from 320 to 1,800 m² promotes visual communication and creates space for innovation and creativity. An inviting foyer leads to a spacious atrium, whose area on the 1st floor can be used as a multifunctional meeting and exhibition space. Flexible office and laboratory space on the upper floors is accessed via galleries arranged around the atrium. On the first floor, a small cafe will provide food and beverage services. The foyer, atrium and demonstrator can be connected for large events. In addition to the car parking garage, the mobility offering also includes a dedicated bicycle parking garage to promote mobility on Campus Melaten. The building is expected to be completed in summer 2025.

“Perfect conditions for the dovetailing of industry, science and research”

“The building typology reflects the core idea of the Aachen Campus project,” said Landmarken CEO Jens Kreiterling at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Perfect conditions for the interlinking of industry, science and research are being created here. This continues the success story of the first construction phase.” This, like the first construction phase of the Cluster Photonics, had also been developed by Landmarken. “We believed in the idea of the campus and its success story from the very beginning and thank RWTH Aachen Campus GmbH for their trust,” Jens Kreiterling continued. Since 2013, around 500 company representatives and scientists have been working together in the first construction phase of the Smart Logistics cluster to realize concepts and solutions for the company of the future. Two years later, the second construction phase, the electromobility laboratory (eLab), followed.

The third building was planned entirely in BIM (Building Information Modeling). In this digital building data modeling, all architectural, technical, physical and functional building data can be visualized digitally during the planning phase. This intelligent building data model, known as the BIM model, will be available to all stakeholders during construction and operation to maximize efficiency and coordination.