ESS Acting Director General Agneta Nestenborg on Monday turned the symbolic first shovel of earth together with Staffan Andersson, regional manager for construction giant Skanska and Lennart Björkman, the chief financial officer of SKR Spallation/Skandrenting.
“Our aim is to create a pleasant and stimulating environment at the ESS Campus, to facilitate the scientists' research and contribute to scientific breakthroughs,” Karin Svedin, ESS Project Manager Campus, said in a statement. “In collaboration with Skanska, we work on meeting our high standards for the future buildings.”
The ESS, which has been compared to a giant microscope, will produce beams 30 times brighter than anything currently in existence, allowing researchers to study materials in unprecedented detail.
Artist's impression of the new ESS Campus. Photo: Henning Larsen Architects/COBE/SLA
The facility is expected to lead to breakthroughs in fields as diverse as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, engines, plastics, energy, telecommunications, transportation, information technology and biotechnology.
Skanska is building the 475 million kronor ($53 million) campus area next to the ESS site in northern Lund as part of a build and lease arrangement, which will see Skandrenting commission the building and then rent it out to ESS via its subsidiary SKR Spallation.
The 19,000 square metre site will have offices, a canteen, an auditorium and 16 laboratories and workshops.
Artist's impression of the ESS Campus ground floor. Photo: Henning Larsen Architects/COBE/SLA
The campus was designed by Henning Larsen Architects, who recently completed the new town hall in the northern Swedish city of Kiruna, as well as COBE and SLA Architects, in close cooperation with ESS.
Staff are expected to move in in 2021, four years before ESS is completed in 2025.
Nestenborg said the start of construction marked “an important milestone” for the project.
“The ESS Campus will be the most public part of the site and we have focused on optimizing the full experience for staff and visitors,” she said.
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