The largest new construction project on the Holländischer Platz campus is scheduled to start in 2026. The Heinrich-Plett-Strasse (AVZ) site will be gradually abandoned.
As is well known, the University of Kassel has many locations: in Witzenhausen and Baunatal, and of course in Kassel itself. In addition to the central campus on Holländischer Platz, there is the Faculty of Electrical Engineering/Computer Science on Wilhelmshöher Allee, the Murhard Library on Brüder-Grimm-Platz, the semi-autonomous School of Art on Menzelstraße, the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences on Damaschkestraße, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences on Heinrich-Plett-Straße (AVZ). It was here, in the Oberzwehren district, that the success story of the University of Kassel, then still a comprehensive university, began 51 years ago.
However, the AVZ's years are numbered. For some time now, the Faculty has been working towards moving to the Holländischer Platz campus. A large construction site for the natural sciences is planned on the former Gottschalk site. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the ASL buildings (Faculty of Architecture - Urban Planning - Landscape Planning), the student house and the refectory. Construction is scheduled to start in 2026. Three successive construction phases are planned: First, the new building for physics/nanostructural sciences will be realized. This will be followed by further construction phases for the Institutes of Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.
The new institute buildings will offer better research conditions, be more flexible and more economical to operate. At the same time, spaces will be created that promote exchange and cooperation and in which the teaching and research content can be convincingly experienced. The university intends to expand its nanotechnology department. Therefore, the construction project also includes a building for a new nanotechnology center (NTC) with highly installed clean room areas. In 2021, a competition had been launched for this purpose, which was decided this spring 2022.
17 architectural firms took part in the competition. The jury met for two days to select the best designs. The decision was made in favor of the design by the Stuttgart-based firm Birk Heilmeyer & Frenzel Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, which was also awarded the planning contract.
The budget for the building project is 138 million euros and is financed by the HEUREKA program of the state. Since the Faculty's Institutes work closely together on an interdisciplinary basis, the declared aim is to implement all three construction phases quickly.
