New research building: Topping at the Institute of Chemical Epigenetics

May 13, 2019

The LMU has added a central element to its campus Großhadern / Martinsried. The new building, in which researchers investigate important mechanisms of genetic control, is taking shape.

Image: Architekturbüro FRITSCH + TSCHAIDSE ARCHITEKTEN GMBH

The Institute of Chemical Epigenetics (ICEM) is currently under construction at the northwestern corner of the Großhadern / Martinsried campus. Now the shell is completed, it is celebrated topping.

The new building will mainly be used by research groups that use chemical methods to investigate important questions of genetic control. The analysis of the so-called epigenetic code and its chemical language  is a field of research with great innovation potential for chemistry and the life sciences bordering on chemistry, says Thomas Carell, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the LMU and Construction Manager of the ICEM.

The new ICEM has a total floor space of around 3,800 square meters. It stands next to its structural "brother", the Research Center for Molecular Biosystems (BioSysM), which was opened in 2016, on the corner of Würmtal and Butenandtstraße. Like the BioSysM, the ICEM building is characterized by rounded corners. The façade is structured by a horizontal wrap around the window. The preliminary design was commissioned by the State Construction Office Munich 2 and was further developed by the architecture firm Fritsch and Tschaidse, Munich.

The speech at today's topping ceremony held Dr. Hans Reichhart, Bavarian Minister of State for Housing, Construction and Transport. The welcome was given by Thomas Kaßner, Head of the State Building Authority Munich. Dr. h.c. Martin Wirsing, Vice President of LMU, Prof. Dr. Peter Klüfers, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Carell.