The architecture of academic institutions is not only monumental edifices in city centers and complexes of dormitories on their outskirts. They are also much more modest, but equally important, base camp facilities, creative work houses and research stations located far from major metropolises. One such facility is the Science and Research Building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, which was designed for the Polish Academy of Sciences by Krzysztof Hajduczenia of the ArchitecTHOR studio.
Mikolajki has been marked for years by the activities of scientists associated with the Polish Academy of Sciences. Even before the outbreak of World War II, in 1938, the construction of the "Kurhaus Nikolaiken" guesthouse, run by merchant Rudolf Bombosch, which already had a hotel in the center of town, was completed.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Nikolaiken
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
Shortly after the war, the buildings of the guesthouse passed into the hands of the Academy of Political Science - from then on, its fate was forever linked to academic activities. The guesthouse, transferred between universities, was transferred to the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1951, becoming the first post-war field station of the Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology. Today, the hydrobiology station in Mikolajki takes full advantage of the buildings created on the initiative of Rudolf Bombosch - there is, among other things, a main building with a conference room, seminar rooms and laboratories, camping cabins, a Studio building, designed for people with disabilities. A bridge and a historic wooden rotunda, called the Aquarium, where outdoor exhibitions are held, add to the charm of the establishment.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
As time passed, the buildings became insufficient, so the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences held a competition for a new facility - a science and research building for the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analyses in Biological and Biomedical Sciences was to be built in Mikolow, at the interface of Lake Mikolow and the Piska Forest.
The building for the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
building-machine
The competition was won by the project created by the ArchitectTHOR studio, led by Krzysztof Hajduczenia since 2007.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki.
Photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
The Science and Research Building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analyses in Biological and Biomedical Sciences was designed as a modernist pavilion - a "machine building", providing a backdrop for the scientific and research work to take place in it and on the station grounds.
- explains Krzysztof Hajduczenia
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
The building was designed as a two-story, basement, rectangular block, with a roof terrace lined with wood and obscured by a metal pergola. Its dimensions are governed by strict proportions - the longer side of the base is three times the shorter of the sides. The lightness of the mass is added by locating the window openings of the second floor in deep, square loggias, and the sculptural character of moving the staircase outside the basic contour of the volume, which also saves the usable area of the building. At the top of the staircase awaits the entrance to the roof terrace, sunk in the crowns of trees growing right on the lake shore.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
Photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
divide and explore
The entire building was divided into several main parts with a division organized according to functional zones - the 5segments were separated from each other by four walls, the so-called dividers, cutting across the body of the building. On the south side were located the most important parts of the building, namely the entrance area, offices and laboratory rooms. On the north, "at the back" of the building, in turn, a server room and rooms for the accompanying infrastructure were located.
Building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
The internal structure of the building is at the same time part of the architectural expression of the building observed from the outside. This is because in the front elevationdividers appear in front of the face of the building,dividing the roofed loggias on the second floor. One of the dividing walls is much longer than the others and finished in a way that distinguishes it from the rest of the building - thanks to this treatment the architect has accentuated the location of the entrance area.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
material polyphony
From the outside, the Nencki Institute building catches the eye with the conglomeration of three materials used to finish the facade. Each is associated with a group of functional zones of the building. The first of the finishing materials is large-scale glazing, which allows the building to be hidden amidst the forest waterfront of Mikolajski Lake. Each window is equipped with elegant black lacquered woodwork and blinds, which not only allow the building's interior to be shaded, but also warn birds of an invisible obstacle.
The building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
At the entrance to the building stood a wall lined with stone blocks. They, too, visually integrate the building with its surroundings, adding gravity to the building and, as the architect explains, symbolizing durability and security. In the context of the modernist inspirations that guided the design of the building, the use of natural material evokes the interwar realizations of Bohdan Pniewski or Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz. The same material was used to design the facades hiding the server room and the staircase, which is led outside the main body of the building.
Building of the National Center for Advanced Imaging Analysis in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Mikolajki
photo: architecTHOR - Krzysztof Hajduczenia
The most interesting parts of the building are those whose exterior walls are covered with corten. Rusty steel was used in the facades covering the entrance, office and laboratory areas. Non-accidental patterns were cut in panels with colors symbolizing the "red roofs of Masuria," which communicate to viewers the function performed by the building. Indeed, some of the corten sheets are covered with decorations resembling simplified images of neurons observed under a microscope. A small detail, but a joy!
