Henning Larsen Wins Competition to Build Green Particle Accelerator in Sweden

Sweden will soon be home to the largest and most advanced neutron-based research center to study things like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson" target="_blank">Higgs boson</a>, DNA and molecular proteins. The <a href="http://www.europeanspallationsource.se/" target="_blank">European Spallation Source (ESS)</a>, which will be located in Lund, Sweden, will be designed by <a href="http://www.henninglarsen.com/news/archive/2013/02/landmark-research-facility.aspx" target="_blank">Henning Larsen Architects</a>, <a href="http://www.cobe.dk/" target="_blank">COBE</a> and <a href="http://www.sla.dk/indexgb.htm" target="_blank">SLA</a>, who recently won the award through an international competition. The site will be filled with lush gardens, green roofs and lots of outdoor space to soak up rainwater. The research facility itself will also be far more advanced and energy efficient than other existing particle accelerators allowing scientists to do more with less energy.

The <a href="http://www.europeanspallationsource.se/why-ess" target="_blank">European Spallation Source</a> will provide 100,000 m2 of laboratories, offices, meeting spaces, and a lecture hall along with a 600 meter long proton accelerator and a 180 metres long neutron hall.

Compared to other such facilities like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider" target="_blank">Large Hadron Collider</a>, which is 27 km in circumference, the ESS's accelerator is considerably smaller, but is planned to be much more powerful.

Using new technologies like <a href="http://europeanspallationsource.se/spallation" target="_blank">spallation technology</a>, the ESS will be able to more efficiently create brighter neutron beams.

The facility will also provide living quarters and guest residences and a public visitor centre.

<a href="http://www.henninglarsen.com/news/archive/2013/02/landmark-research-facility.aspx" target="_blank">Henning Larsen Architects</a> is collaborating with <a href="http://www.cobe.dk/" target="_blank">COBE</a> and <a href="http://www.sla.dk/indexgb.htm" target="_blank">SLA</a> on this project.

The team is also aided by engineering comapnies Buro Happold, NNE Pharmaplan and Transsolar.

The project will feature a lush garden setting filled with recreational areas, varied landscapes and wetlands, which will absorb rainwater and encourage biodiversity.

“Just as the international science hub that will be developed, the surface of the landscape will be an interwoven patchwork of different fields and meadows”, <a href="http://www.henninglarsen.com/news/archive/2013/02/landmark-research-facility.aspx" target="_blank">says Stig L. Andersson</a>, Creative Director at <a href="http://www.sla.dk/planlaeg/ESSGB.htm" target="_blank">SLA</a>. “Wild-growing vegetation and fences provide spatial distinction as well as safety barriers. All rainwater management will be handled by a new wetland landscape of lakes, marshes and meadows that also create a dynamic and ever-changing visual and spatial connection between ESS, Max IV and Lund Science Village.”

Work on the project is expected to start soon with research commencing in 2019 and the full facility will be completed by 2025.

The ESS expects that 2,000-4,000 researchers will visit the campus every year and the research done there will contribute in many fields of science and technology from medicine to archaeology and sustainable energy sources.