A building where nearly everything is unique
A Working Lab – Johanneberg Science Park
A Working Lab at Johanneberg Science Park in Gothenburg is a building that stands out from the crowd, both in terms of the building process and how it appears. In 2019, Akademiska Hus opened its doors to its innovative office building, or innovation arena as it is also known.
Demands on the indoor climate
The 11,700 m2 large building A Working Lab in Gothenburg accommodates offices, co-working environments, conference and meeting rooms, a makerspace as well as a Learning Lab. This is where the exchange of ideas and knowledge between academia, the business community and social actors occurs.
With a framework of timber, the building stands out from the crowd and has also contributed to a sustainable construction. As several innovation projects have been in progress during the building process, it can be described as anything but traditional. The wooden house construction has been built entirely without a weather tent, which has contributed to its challenges. At the same time, measurements have been taken of the CO2 footprint, the storage of cold with PCM technology, electricity supply with DC networks and research on how to build good acoustics in large buildings with wooden joists.
It is an innovation house where we test live and research is conducted on materials and the different technical solutions, both during the construction period and now during the administration phase.Olle Nyström, Akademiska Hus
Based on its requirements specification, Akademiska Hus sought, among others, a ventilation solution that was flexible and was able to meet the high ambition of environmental certification. After meeting these requirements, in addition to financial and technical, Swegon and WISE were chosen for the indoor climate in the innovative building. WISE is an all-inclusive indoor climate system with flexible adaptations for achieving a perfectly balanced comfort level.
Tradition meets innovation
It became clear during the journey that innovation projects and construction projects are based on different logics, which was unfamiliar, but also a lesson. It requires not only boldness and patience, but also a great commitment to keep up with the twists and turns and not risk limiting the innovation projects.
The building is erected in modules with active diffusers to facilitate for future adaptations or divisions, at the same time as it was an advantage as the work progressed. There are only a few places in the whole building where there are no intelligent devices, in order to satisfy the demand of flexibility.
Unexpected challenges
It is not uncommon for challenges to come to light during a building project such as this, and as the work progressed it became clear that space in the suspended ceiling was limited, which made installation difficult. However, the relative low weight of the WISE diffusers helped the installation process, and also contribute towards saving time. Heavy diffusers are not only tough to handle but also tiring from a work standpoint.
To stand and lift 200 diffusers is extremely tiring. So the fact that the weights are low is positive.Mikael Holmstedt, Ventab
This is the first time anyone has attempted to tackle a project such as this, so naturally a number of questions arose along the way. As mentioned, flexibility has been an important factor in order to be able to follow the innovation projects that were in progress, which, of course, has affected planning. It was unclear who the tenants would be, which resulted in the building having to be planned as things moved forward. This is something that WISE is perfectly suited for as the wireless solution contributes towards a flexibility that facilitates adjustments or modifications. For example, it is possible to add more sensors without the need of breaking up a complete Modbus system and readdress everything.
Close collaboration throughout
In this kind of project, it is important to participate the whole time and be involved in the developments that arise. This requires good cooperation to get everything to mesh, and both Swegon and Akademiska Hus believe this has worked extremely well.
In order to ensure a smooth work process, Swegon has provided the same technicians who have not only participated in commissioning, but who have also been on hand after all the work. When problems, thoughts or issues arise it is an advantage to be able to speak to someone who has worked during the project and is familiar with the building.
Swegon’s technicians have been extremely helpful and the collaboration with Swegon has been great.Olle Nyström, Akademiska Hus
Gold level in the Swedish environment certification system Miljöbyggnad
One of the focus areas for A Working Lab has been to reduce the climate footprint. The wooden house construction contributes to a minimal CO2 footprint at the same time as the solar cells on the roof proved environment-friendly electricity. These factors, together with several others, have contributed towards A Working Lab in Johanneberg meeting the stringent sustainability requirements that apply for Miljöbyggnad Gold.
Gross area: 11 700 m2
Businesses in the premises: Trade and industry, primarily within the town planning sector
Built: 2019
Environmental labelling: Miljöbyggnad Gold
Products installed: WISE system with WISE diffusers (WISE Sphere Free, WISE Colibri Ceiling) and diffusers for constant air flow (among others LOCKZONE Free).
