The new research and teaching building is being constructed on the site of the former chemistry building, which was demolished in 2024. It replaces the previous physics building at Mendelssohnstraße 3, which was in dire need of renovation. As a building along Hans-Sommer-Straße, it will mark the entrance to the East Campus of TU Braunschweig in the future.
The new building will provide the physics institutes with space for state-of-the-art research and teaching: half of the space in the northern wing of the building will be used for laboratories and measuring and weighing rooms, including clean rooms and specially dampened measuring rooms for vibration-sensitive experiments. The facilities will be complemented by a helium liquefaction plant and a workshop with a materials store.
Architecture and sustainability
The southern part of the building houses office workspaces, seminar rooms and lecture halls. A multi-storey, light-flooded foyer connects the levels and creates a direct link from Hans-Sommer-Straße to the East Campus. The ground floor will feature additional student workspaces with access to the green inner courtyard, on the edge of which the seminar rooms on the upper floor are also located. Above the fourth floor is a half-storey housing the central building services.
Sustainability plays a central role in the construction: the building and its technical equipment are designed to enable resource-efficient management. For example, waste heat is utilised by efficient heat recovery systems and the entire free roof area is covered with photovoltaic modules to reduce the carbon footprint.
Completion of a chain of replacement buildings
The foundations for the new chemistry and pharmacy buildings were laid at the end of 2024 and in the summer of 2025. The laying of the foundation stone for the new physics teaching and research building is now the third in this chain. The three buildings are scheduled to open successively from 2027 onwards.
Comments on the laying of the foundation stone
Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony Minister for Science and Culture:
"Good teaching and high-performance research require not only bright minds, but also the right space: modern laboratories, functional lecture halls, contemporary workplaces and areas for communication and collaboration. The new physics building creates these conditions: Here, we as a state are investing in a modern and sustainable teaching and research building which, together with the new buildings for chemistry and pharmacy that are already under construction, fits into the gradual renewal of the natural sciences campus. In this way, we are strengthening the TU's standing in international research and its role as a driving force for the Braunschweig economic region."
Prof. Dr. Angela Ittel, President of the TU Braunschweig:
"I am very grateful that we are now able to realise this construction project – it was high time, because the condition of the current physics building was no longer tenable, either for researchers or for students. At the same time, physics research at our university is conducted at the highest level – for example, in the QuantumFrontiers Cluster of Excellence, which gives us international visibility. If we expect world-class science, we must also create the conditions for it: spaces where research not only takes place, but thrives. This allows us to look to the future with much greater confidence."
Prof. Dr. Anja Hesse, Head of the Department of Culture and Science, City of Braunschweig:
"A new chapter in physics is being opened today in Braunschweig. I would like to congratulate Professor Ittel on her success in laying the foundation stone for the new physics building at the Technical University of Braunschweig, one of the university's central faculties, thereby creating optimal working conditions and strengthening the TU's standing in international teaching and research. I would like to thank Minister Mohrs for enabling the state government to provide TU Braunschweig with modern and sustainable premises by supporting the construction project with a high double-digit million sum. Ultimately, this new building is also a highly visible commitment by the state government to Braunschweig as a centre of science."
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eduard Jorswieck, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering:
‘The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Physics is eagerly awaiting the new physics building. The new building will offer an excellent technical infrastructure for outstanding research. It is centrally located opposite the Electrical Engineering Building and next to LENA, making it very attractive for students.’
