Construction Projects

Expanding HPI

HPI aims to significantly expand its Griebnitzsee campus location and is planning to develop it into a university center of excellence in the field of digital engineering. The campus is to be expanded accordingly over the medium term. The Griebnitzsee campus is best situated for further development due to its proximity to the three already integrated HPI campuses. For this reason, a development plan procedure (No. 160 Westlicher Universitätscampus Griebnitzsee) is currently underway to determine the urban planning framework. In 2018, a new building was constructed and completed on Campus II. Another extension is currently being built in the front area of the August-Bebel-Straße campus, which will primarily be used for the new Digital Health, Security Engineering, Data Engineering, and Smart Energy courses. In addition to a lecture hall, seminar rooms, and offices, the building will also accommodate numerous areas for servers and other IT infrastructure. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2021.

IFI Golm

The Hasso Plattner Foundation is currently constructing a modern new building in Golm, Potsdam: the Institute for Computer Science and Computational Science. This building will be donated to the State of Brandenburg and handed over for the use of the University of Potsdam. It is the first building block in the expansion of the Golm Campus at the University of Potsdam. In the future, the building will house workplaces for around 100 employees and approximately 800 students. On the ground floor, it will have seminar rooms, two computer pools, and a spacious self-study area. The two upper floors will be devoted to office workstations, group work rooms, and laboratories for special computer technology installations. A central technical room for the institute’s extensive server technology is planned for the upper floor. Completion and handover is scheduled for the end of 2020.

Living at Brauhausberg

The site of the former swimming pool Bad am Brauhausberg, next to the Museum Minsk, has been acquired. Apartments here can be offered at a more favorable rent than is usual on the open market. The construction of moderately priced rental apartments in a central location contributes to socially fair urban development. The completion of the approximately 130 apartments is planned for 2022.

C2L

Another new building for the new specialist areas of HPI is currently under construction. House L on Campus 2 (thus C2L) will include a data center, two lecture halls, seminar rooms, and offices, as well as a bistro. Completion is scheduled for late 2021.

Minsk

Opened on November 7, 1977, the Minsk restaurant, built in the GDR modernist style, was intended to reaffirm the friendship between the GDR and the Soviet Union, and was set up in collaboration with artists from Minsk. The Minsk was very popular among Potsdamers and is associated for many with memories of celebrations and café visits with a view over the Brauhausberg hill. After the GDR formally ceased to exist, the restaurant was closed and fell into disrepair. However, civic engagement prevented plans for demolition being carried out.

In spring 2019, the Hasso Plattner Foundation decided to purchase the Minsk. As early as January 2020, construction work began to transform it into a museum for the foundation’s very popular GDR art collection. Modern exhibition spaces totaling 900m2 are being created on the two main floors. On the upper floor, a café with an outdoor terrace is planned, which will serve as a new meeting place for Potsdam. The Museum Minsk is scheduled to open in the fall of 2021.

School of Design Thinking at the University of Cape Town

The d-school iconic building consisting of 3 floors will be the new multi-disciplinary and inter-faculty collaborative space on University of Cape Town’s Campus. A place where design thinking (innovation) happens, where students from all the different faculties feel invited, meet, collaborate and innovate. Building is planned to commence in 2020 and occupation in late 2021.