Biomedicum is a life sciences lab building attached to Karolinska University Hospital. Designed to support a wide range of research disciplines, its labs offer advanced infrastructure for cell and molecular biology, pharmacology, physiology, microbiology, medical biochemistry, biophysics, and neuroscience.

The building's composition is rooted in the innovative "Lab Quarters" concept, with each floor housing four Lab Quarters, totaling 26 across the entire facility. Collaboration areas, strategically positioned around the atrium, serve as focal points for interaction among more than 200 scientists from all Quarters, fostering interdisciplinary exchange and synergy.

Each Lab Quarter within Biomedicum comprises a self-contained block of lab, lab support, and office space, spanning approximately a quarter of each floor, totaling 800-1000m² and serving 55-60 scientists. With four Quarters per floor, each occupying a self-contained block, they are arranged around a large skylighted atrium. Collaboration and cafe spaces are positioned along circulation galleries within the atrium, facilitating interaction and communication among researchers.

Atrium slots between the Quarters feature semi-isolated "balcony" spaces, providing additional areas for group collaboration and informal meetings.

Biomedicum's 6.2m structural bay accommodates a double lab module, resulting in a 3.1m wide lab bay, with 15cm width reserved for potential partitions.

Offices, measuring 3.0m by 4.2m (12.6m²), are designed to accommodate up to 5 very compact workstations each, optimizing space efficiency within the facility.

Levels 3 to 8 consist of six identical floors, each accommodating the 26 Lab Quarters. Public areas and cafes are situated on Levels 1, 2, and 9. Labs positioned in the middle of the floor plates lack exposure to primary daylight, with lower-floor labs receiving minimal second-hand daylight from the atrium.

The floor-to-floor height is 3.9m, providing a clear height of 2.7m in labs and 3.1m in offices.

The building's design features a boxy, cubic volume, square in plan, with a 7-story atrium in section. Its compact nature results in an efficient facade surface-to-floor area ratio, optimizing energy performance and environmental sustainability.

Each of the 6 lab floors features four identical Quarters per floor, arranged in a pin-wheel configuration around a central enclosed atrium.

The structural bay measures 8.4m deep by 6.2m wide. A 40cm thick slab leaves a ceiling cavity of 40cm for installations in office areas and 80cm in labs.

Each Quarter block includes an egress stair, a bank of 3 passenger lifts or a single freight lift, and two large shaft and technical room blocks.

Two large riser shafts serve each Quarter, facilitating efficient vertical transportation of utilities and services. Consolidated shafts help maximize the flexibility of the floor plate, allowing for easy reconfiguration of lab spaces as needed.

Both lab and office areas within the Quarter offer flexibility for user need-driven layouts. Lab areas, positioned facing the atrium, receive their daylight from the atrium and have no direct view to the outside. Smaller labs are placed at the perimeter facing the atrium, completely separating the larger labs inside the floor plate from the daylight.

With the compromised daylighting and limited view for employees, the floor plate achieves a remarkable depth of 28m from facade to atrium, with a total building depth of approximately 80m.

Four identical lab and office blocks arranged in a pinwheel configuration around a central glazed atrium. Each block is designed with a race-track corridor surrounding the shafts and inboard labs. Another race-track corridor connects the interiors of each Quarter to the atrium galleries as well as to the other Quarters.

In a Nordic climate with its long, dark winters, a large enclosed, well-lit atrium serves as a year-round indoor forum for communication and interaction. This atrium solution effectively allows daylight to penetrate deep into the building's interior, mitigating the challenges posed by an extremely deep floor plate. The building itself adopts a compact and introverted cube design, maximizing internal usable floor area while minimizing the surface area of exterior facade. However, this design approach often comes at the expense of sacrificing daylight and external views to optimize for economy and expected environmental benefits.

During the project phase, a "park in the building" rhetoric was utilized for the atrium design, emphasizing the integration of greenery within the indoor space. However, upon completion, this vision was only partially realized, with only a symbolic amount of greenery incorporated into the final design.

Construction 2013-2018.

The total building area spans 65,000m² across 11 floors, with 44,500m² designated as usable area.

The facility includes 26 Lab Quarters, each ranging from 800 to 1,000m² and accommodating 55-60 scientists. Additionally, there are 1,600 office workstations for a total 1,600 staff.

Three 500-seat cafeterias are situated on Levels 3, 4, and 10.

Reported costs for the project were just over 2 billion kronor, equivalent to approximately USD 220 million.

Architect: CF Moller Architects.