Take a walk through the artificial intelligence park...

An innovative artificial intelligence park will be built in Germany.

In Heilbronn, a huge cluster will be built on an area of 265,000 square meters, which will include a business campus, laboratories, startups, housing, a restaurant, a kindergarten and a park for specialists working in the field of artificial intelligence and the general public interested in this field.

The competition for the design of the complex was won by the MVRDV bureau. The customer was Ipai Konsortium (Dieter Schwarz Foundation, Schwarz Gruppe).

The creators of the park have conceived a real man-made environment for the innovation center, which will reflect its purpose, which is related to the development and research of artificial intelligence. Some will work here, others will relax, others will live, and some will all be together.

The center has a wide functionality - it is planned to hold conferences, seminars and master classes on AI, internships and exchange of experience for specialists in this field. The park will become a platform for testing new technologies and developments in the field of artificial intelligence.

MVRDV had to offer something exclusive to differentiate the Heilbronn complex from its global competitors – renowned tech hubs from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen.

The architectural planning concept of the project is based on a circle. Such a general plan is conceived as a business card of the brand. The motive correlates with the idea of harmony, an ideal world, simplicity, flexibility, sustainability.

The internal composition is built along the north-south and east-west axes. Almost all the buildings of a simple rectangular shape have the same height. They will be built using the latest modular technology and biomaterials in accordance with European principles of sustainable development.

The dominant features of the development will be several towers. One of them is the communications center. This is a high-rise building with a round plan, located on the central square. It is here that various events for the general public interested in AI technologies will be held - exhibitions, conferences, seminars. The tower will house a training center. The programming of the functionality of the entire system was developed in collaboration with Berlin experts in the creation of REALACE spaces.

The campus buildings are surrounded by pedestrian paths with a total length of 1.2 km. The authors of the project provided areas for recreation and sports, so important for the successful life and activity of a person - running tracks, a skate park, observation platforms, a sports ground with a grandstand.

The development site for the kampus is located on a territory that is not rich in vegetation. According to the landscape design project by LOLA, gardens and a forest belt will grow in the location along with the innovation cluster. And this is not only the creation of a natural environment necessary for health and aesthetics, but also testing grounds for artificial intelligence technologies related to biodiversity and agriculture.

The idea of reducing the campus's carbon footprint is touted as energy-saving – the future park's technological features will reduce the center's energy consumption by 80%.

This is what bioclimatic architecture works for – one of the trends in modern hi-tech construction. The technology is distinguished by the use of abundantly glazed spaces on facades. This is not just an artistically attractive building shell. Bioclimatic facades are able to adapt to changes in the parameters of the external climate during the day, season and year.

According to this technology, enclosing structures regulate the flow of heat, light, air into the premises, heat loss, and exhaust air removal, so that optimal microclimate parameters are provided inside the building with moderate energy costs. The building envelope, adapting to changes in weather conditions, is based on the principle of multi-layering and is a double translucent ventilated facade structure. The main material of such facades is glass, which, due to its physical characteristics, provides the enclosing structure with the corresponding properties.

The artificial intelligence park will have its own renewable energy sources installed – wind turbines, solar panels and batteries for storing accumulated energy.

The combination of these technologies and large-scale reforestation of the surrounding area should make the future park 100% carbon neutral throughout its entire lifespan.

So, we see a modern project that is a comprehensive solution. Despite the fact that the project is dedicated to the study and development of the field of artificial intelligence, it is maximally "human-oriented". It is possible that such solutions will contribute to the formation of an adequate perception of AI in society as a tool that only helps improve the quality of life, and in no way replaces everything natural, real, living and man-made.