The plant research center, consisting of an office, marginal field labs, greenhouses and integral test areas for modern and digitally optimized agriculture, is to be built on the site of a former equestrian farm on the southeastern edge of the village of Morschenich. For the most part, the various uses will be accommodated in the existing building for this purpose. New additions include two greenhouse hybrids, which will be expanded to include the function of workshop and conference spaces. As a house-within-a-house, they will use the greenhouse as a climatic envelope.

The existing building will be partly extended with roof overhangs as sun protection as well as green roofs and green facades. The volume of the former riding arena is broken through to create clearly defined zones and provide a passage to the guest house. For the guest house, which can accommodate up to eight researchers, an existing neighboring building will be reactivated and climatically optimized with a polycarbonate shell.

A community house for Morschenich’s new residents will be established in the existing lunge rotunda, which, in addition to its small growing area for communal gardening, will provide the growing community with a place for fellowship.

In my design, I retain almost the entire footprint of the old equestrian farm. With a few breakthroughs within the courtyard, a new campus structure is created. An interplay of research fields and institute buildings is created. At the same time, the former riding hall moves into the center of attention. It functions as a new storage facility and greenhouse, which will also house the exhibition. The clinker walls with the existing steel structure will be retained and form the new base of the greenhouses. The existing walls will be topped with a simple greenhouse structure to form the outer shell. Inside are boxes made of a wooden structure. The old residential building will be converted into a bistro on the first floor and provide overnight accommodations for visitors on the upper floor.

The office is being built in the front campus building. Directly behind it is the former riding hall with the new functions of storage, greenhouse and exhibition. Next to it – to the south – is the new workspace of the Marginal Lab. The smaller stables in the northeast now contain the workshop areas and workshops.

All buildings are connected to the new greenhouse by very short paths. A generous walkway around the campus area allows visitors to also take a look at the fields. In addition, visitors can walk into the greenhouse from the forecourt to view the latest research results or visit the exhibition on the top level

The design for the field laboratory is based on the existing village and building structures, interpreting and translating them into a new form. The field laboratory thereby forms a gentle transition from the village structure into the landscape. As a direct mediator to the site, the existing and site-defining residential building is preserved. The newly designed field laboratory deliberately takes a back seat and exposes the residential building.

Facing the site, the greenhouse stands as an identity-forming distinctive feature for the field laboratory. The warehouse forms a counterpart on the other side of the residential building in the direction of the village exit. Both parts of the building are connected by a flat, three-armed and multi-curved structure, which at the same time forms an inner courtyard and creates a soft, green transition into the landscape.

The field laboratory will promote exchange through its open structures and become an agricultural research object itself through its green roof rising from the ground.