Smart Living Lab, Fribourg

In the heart of the city of Fribourg, a new district is being built on the site of the old Cardinal brewery, developed by BlueFACTORY Fribourg / Freiburg SA. This industrial site is being transformed into a new, modern urban district that offers space for innovation and cultural and artistic activities. The district pursues a sustainable approach to reducing waste production and the consumption of natural resources.

One of the pioneering buildings on the site will be the Smart Living Lab. This is an office building that has been developed as a research and development center to investigate the living space of the future. The focus will be on researching energy efficiency, digitalization, residents' activities, and their well-being. The Smart Living Lab combines the expertise of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Fribourg (HTA-FR), and the University of Fribourg (UNIFR) in the four research areas of building technologies, well-being and behavior, interactions & design processes, and home energy systems.

The new Smart Living Lab building has a range of structural potential that enables various research activities. As an interdisciplinary, innovation-driven real-world laboratory, it offers first-class research infrastructure for private, public, and academic partners who want to develop innovative projects.

The building is set to become a pioneer in efficient resource use throughout its entire life cycle and will meet the Swiss Confederation's ambitious 2050 energy targets 30 years ahead of schedule.

Together with Behnisch Architekten and ZPF Ingenieure AG, Drees & Sommer Switzerland was able to support the planning of this groundbreaking building. Drees & Sommer Switzerland was responsible for building services and building automation planning, facade planning, building physics, and the development of a sustainability strategy up to phase 41 of the tender planning. Meeting the very high and demanding requirements for flexibility in the office space, integrating the needs of researchers, and taking sustainability into account while staying within budget was a challenge in this project, but one that was successfully overcome.