5. Information - english

1. Quartar 2014

Dear Colleagues, looking back on an eventful year 2013, one can say, including the new PIK building, a lot has happened and we made good progress.

Would you have guessed that almost 3000cubic meters of concrete and 700tons of steel were needed to erect the new building? They had to be processed under adverse conditions. For the construction works temperatures lower than 5 degrees Celsius are no good. One can´t really work, the expert processing of most building materials finds its technical limit. Pouring concrete gets difficult and requires special measures. Cables and roofing fabrics get so rigid, they cannot be bent. This was the case for twelve weeks. The interdependence of crafts led to even further delays.

Even so, the building shell was ready and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated on August 13. Then it went on so rapidly that the building could be made weatherproof before winter.

Prefabricated facade elements made of wood were transported by truck and were assembled with the help of cranes. The shell – flamed wooden slats on black foil - was fully completed. All windows with the exception of the special vacuum isolated ones were installed. The latter will go into one of the 3 cylinders now closed temporary and are part of the special research program funded by PTJ Jülich.

The entire roof was insolated and sealed. Before that, dozens of support feet for the substructure of the cooler units had to be glued and dowelled. The same applied to every opening for the air supply and exhaust ducts.

The roof light dome of the atrium was delivered in two prefabricated parts and assembled on the roof. The highly efficient insulated glass units were installed individually on site. Thus the building was completely tight and the two cranes could be removed.

At the same time technically highly demanding interior fittings were started. First non-load bearing walls were built; in the context of the special research project, in different materials as were clay bricks.

The main pipes for drinking water, waste water and the main power supply of the building were laid. The building ventilation ducts have been led up through the roof. Until now electric cables alone made up for at least 2, 7 km. This is quite a considerable challenge in a building with a very particular shape and cubature. The building electrical distribution, for which a separate room is required, has also been installed.

Preparatory work for the high performance computing system, the heart of the building, could be started. This makes us very happy, because heavy and frequent rainfall this summer had penetrated into the basement, so that further delays should have been expected. Fortunately this could be prevented by special drying measures. Then the cavity floor could be installed and the installation work started. The two power transformers were delivered and a considerable amount of wiring (800m), including many meters of 240mm²copper cables were installed.

Basic works for the cooling of the computing system consisting of complex pipe systems, including the main piping with a diameter of 2000mm and the buffer tank for 8.000 l coolant solution were performed. Thus the prerequisites for the installation of the cooling units, scheduled for delivery in 2014, are met.

In addition, construction of the necessary redundant power supply for Telegraph Hill starting from the substation Zeppelinstraße was begun.

From here, below the Havel, a supply line up to Telegraph Hill will be laid, so that the current ring - actually under construction on the Science Park - can be fully closed securing redundant power supply. According to current schedule, work will be completed before next winter.

Furthermore, preparations for the procurement of the new high-performance computer system are progressing. This very demanding advertising task will be announced according to public procurement law EU-wide, in a so-called competitive dialogue. Supervised by a leading specialist law firm, this process is carried out or the first time at PIK to ensure that we get a perfectly made-up and configured high-performance computer under the given conditions. Extensive negotiations concerning the financing of the various investment projects were lead. From project funds through institutional means to funds from the European Regional Development Fund, every opportunity has been taken. We are especially grateful to the MWFK supporting us in the necessary external funding on a broad basis. Outcome of these negotiations is now, that the projects must be completed in early 2015, so that we can then also expect to move into the new building.

 

Some impressions can be found on our website

http://www.pik-potsdam.de/services/infothek/telegraphenberg-d/forschungsneubau/bilder

 with best regards

your building team