BMC Seminar Room 1345 rises above the noise of everyday life

The Biomedical Center BMC in Lund has received an exclusive addition. On the roof of the old animal house, a building has landed that sparkles like water when the sun shines on it. It houses meeting and seminar rooms for researchers and teachers. The idea is to exchange thoughts and ideas in a relaxed lounge environment, above the noise of everyday life.

The Biomedical Center (BMC) is a prominent research facility attached to the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University. Ten years ago they built a modern new building with laboratories. A few years ago, it was time again. Mats Österberg of FOJAB arkitekter was commissioned to design a conversion of Klas Anshelm's old Immunolog from the 1960s into a student center for medicine.

The reception and entrance for visitors and students faces Sölvegatan while the seminar rooms are located deep in the buildings. The need to supplement with more centrally located meeting rooms has therefore emerged. At the same time, the popular terrace on the roof of the animal house was looked at with interest.

This led to BMC's latest addition, also designed by FOJAB architects: a new small house that elegantly balances on the edge of the animal house. Inside, it has the character of a single open room, but with compartmentalized functions. Fixed furniture and cabinets act as room dividers, with frameless glass connecting to the wall and ceiling. The impression is of a sophisticated academic environment but with a relaxed atmosphere. There is a fireplace, comfortable armchairs and a sunny terrace. The warm wooden interior is exposed to the BMC courtyard through large window openings.

- "The business wanted the building to shine like a lantern," says architect Anna Belfrage of FOJAB. The first idea was to integrate LED lighting into the facade. This idea failed because of the price. Instead, we chose a solution with structural glass and a galvanized, slightly shimmering sheet metal behind it. The result is a facade that gives the impression of water glitter when the sun shines on it.

Anna Belfrage, who has a background in Madrid working on elegant interiors, appreciates the high level of finish achieved on the interior carpentry. But the ambition to create a sense of a single space also presented some challenges.

- Controlling the sound between the different rooms was a journey. It ended with 5 cm thick specially designed sound cassettes that provided 45 dB attenuation between the meeting and seminar rooms. "It has become a wonderful environment where the choice of materials, sound and light contribute to an extraordinary quality," says Anna Belfrage.