22 January 2024

Photo: DESY/Marta Mayer

Topping-out crown in front of the DESYUM: As the foreman recites a poem he wrote himself to mark the completion of the shell of the DESY Visitor Centre DESYUM, the topping-out crown is hoisted in the view of Hamburg's Science Senator Katharina Fegebank and DESY Director Helmut Dosch (left in the background).

The DESYUM building now nearly has a complete skeleton: today, the building that will contain the DESY research centre’s visitor centre hosted its topping out ceremony. Since its foundation stone was set in place in May 2023, six storeys have risen above the entry rotunda near the research centre’s Notkestraße entrance in Hamburg. The DESYUM building’s 3250 square metres of usable space will host a two-storey exhibition space, meeting rooms, an auditorium, a cafeteria, a green roof with rooftop terrace, and offices. DESYUM will open to the public in 2025. To celebrate the occasion, some 150 guests including guest-of-honour Katharina Fegebank, the Hamburg Science Senator, gathered at DESY’s Hamburg campus to acknowledge and show gratitude for the work of the construction team.

The topping out ceremony hailed the steady work of the crews, who had to deal with varied and inclement weather over the past year. The last month has been a good case in point: the recent freezing weather in Hamburg had interrupted the last stage completion of the building shell, as the concrete cannot properly harden at such temperatures. Nevertheless, the construction wreath was hoisted to the top of the building, and the first two floors were cleared for tours. 

“As a public meeting point and meeting place, DESYUM will further strengthen our dialogue with society and become a new, lively landmark on our campus. We are looking forward to the opening in 2025,” said DESY Director Helmut Dosch at the start of the ceremony. “I would like to thank everyone for their extraordinary commitment, which has made a decisive contribution to completing the shell of our future visitor centre in such a short time.”

The DESYUM building is the first purposely sustainably constructed building on the Bahrenfeld campus in Hamburg. Constructed under a design put forth by the architecture firm HPP Architekten, the building meets the Silver Sustainability Standard of the German Federal Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB). This has been achieved through various measures, including the use of special construction techniques that saved 30% of the concrete use in the load-bearing parts of the building. The building’s façade will be constructed from recycled and recyclable aluminium. When finished, the building will be heated from the waste heat from DESY’s particle accelerators, and a biodiverse green roof will be planted, made possible through a rain-storage mechanism.

“I know from my own experience that you don't have to be a particle physicist to be enthusiastic about science,” said Hamburg's Senator for Science, Katharina Fegebank. “Here at DESYUM, the public can now experience first-hand the cutting-edge research being done here on the DESY campus. This new visitor centre brings people from different backgrounds and disciplines together. It captivates with its interactive features. And it offers completely new opportunities for dialogue between science and civil society. A milestone for DESY and an outstanding calling card for Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld.”

DESYUM will act as a beacon for the campus, guiding people into DESY’s research topics in an in-depth way. Additionally, the centre will be a meeting point for employees and a place to engage with the general public on their daily work and the big challenges that contextualise their efforts. DESYUM also plays a central role as a nexus point in the Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld, the development project in the district surrounding the DESY campus. 

For the first time in Hamburg's history, Science City Bahrenfeld combines the concept of an integrated development of science, research and teaching with business, work, living, leisure and recreation. DESYUM is therefore much more than just a multimedia exhibition centre – it will be a meeting place for open dialogue between science and society. The first Science City Day will take place on 1 June 2024, when DESY will also open its doors to visitors as part of an open day. Although DESYUM will not yet be completed by then, it will already be recognisable as a future place to go.

Construction costs for DESYUM comprise 28.7 million euro, including the first exhibition. The entire visitor centre is financed the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, which carries 90 percent of the costs, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, which carries 10 percent.