It will now become the workplace for MAX IV’s 240 members of staff; in future the facility will be able to receive approximately 2500 researchers from all over the world. The staff will now work on the final installations and getting the accelerator and the first beamlines into operation; the facility will be officially inaugurated on 21 June 2016.
The handover took place on Monday during a ceremony in which Ulrika Hallengren, CEO of building contractor Fastighets AB ML4, gave a symbolic key to the facility to Torbjörn von Schantz, vice-chancellor of Lund University, and to the director of the MAX IV Laboratory, Christoph Quitmann.
“As of now, it is our responsibility to fill these prize-winning premises with activity and cutting-edge research within physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and materials science. We will ensure that we deliver world-leading research for a long time to come”, said Torbjörn von Schantz.
“It is a fantastic feeling to stand here today. We have a good deal left to do before the accelerator is installed and all the beamlines are in place, but with the building we are now taking over completed ahead of schedule, in line with specifications and below budget, the conditions could not be better”, said Christoph Quitmann, adding:
“Together with all the employees at the MAX IV Laboratory, I look forward to welcoming the researchers in just over a year when we will inaugurate this world-leading synchrotron light facility here in Lund”.
MAX IV - Background and brief facts
The MAX IV Laboratory is a national facility with Lund University as its host university. The MAX IV Laboratory’s accelerators produce x-rays of very high intensity and quality. Just over 1000 researchers from all over the world come every year to the lab to use the x-rays in scientific research which makes the invisible visible. Their research concerns fields such as physics, chemistry, geology, engineering and materials science, structural biology, medicine and nanotechnology.
When the MAX IV Laboratory opens for users in summer 2016, it will be the brightest x-ray source in the world. It is Sweden’s largest and most ambitious investment in research infrastructure and will replace the existing laboratory, which will be closed down in December 2015.
Currently, 14 beamlines and the experiment stations where the research is conducted are financed and in various stages of completion. In total, it will be possible to install 30 beamlines on the two storage rings and in the extension of the linear accelerator. When completed, the MAX IV Laboratory will be able to receive up to 2 500 researchers per year.
The funders are the Swedish Research Council, VINNOVA, Lund University, Region Skåne and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, a consortium consisting of Danish universities and regions, the Academy of Finland and Estonia.
THE BUILDINGS - Background and facts
IN March 2010 Lund University called for tenders to find a building contractor and landlord for the MAX IV facility, resulting in Wihlborgs and Peab joining forces to form the new company Fastighets AB ML4. The building contractor has the task of constructing, owning and administrating the facility, while Lund University is committed to leasing it for 25 years.
Construction work began in June 2011. The design was developed by FOJAB Arkitekter, with principal responsibility for the buildings, and Snöhetta responsible for the landscape architecture. In total, the facility contains around 20 structures totalling approximately 50 000 sq.m.
The facility was constructed in stages and the first part, comprising around 10 buildings, was ready for occupation in October 2013.
The implementation of the actual building project has occupied around 500 full-time positions distributed amongst more than 3000 people. At the most, there were approximately 360 employees on the site for daily work.
Environmental work
From the beginning, the project has had high environmental ambitions and has received several certifications according to different systems.
Classifications:
- Environmental building Gold (entire facility)
- Green Building
- BREEAM –SE level Outstanding (design stage)
Extension
As recently as April, a new detailed plan was approved for the extension of the small ring, building D. Work on this extension is expected to continue until August 2016.
Budget
The budget for the property investment was approximately SEK 2.2 billion. The final amount was just under SEK 1.9 billion. Among the reasons for the lower total project cost are the low interest and index rates during the implementation of the project.