New research building project takes next steps

The search for a general contractor is underway

The plans have been drawn up and the construction site is prepared. Yet it is still quiet on the site in Düren, where the new research building of the Modellfabrik Papier is to be built. It is one of the first construction projects to be realized in the new innovation quarter near Düren train station. Over the past 24 months, the research facility has been developed in close coordination with the future occupant Modellfabrik Papier, the Economic Eevelopment Office of the city of Düren, WIN.DN GmbH, and the general planner, HPP Architekten GmbH.

“We would have liked to have held the groundbreaking ceremony this year,” reports Winfried Kranz-Pitre, Managing Director of WIN.DN. “But building with public funding requires rigid EU-wide procurement procedures, which the construction industry sometimes finds difficult to respond to. In the now-launched negotiation process, we can better assess the potential general contractors.” As part of the structural change programs in the Rhenish mining area, the research building is funded by the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia through public subsidies of 97.5%.

The general contractor’s main task is to coordinate the technical aspects and schedules of all the subcontractors and trades involved in the construction work. On behalf of the client, the general contractor ensures that the construction work is carried out as smoothly and economically as possible and that all the necessary construction services are provided professionally and on time until the building is handed over ready for use. “The aim is to fulfill the highest standards of sustainability in accordance with the specifications of the German Sustainable Building Council, because the Modellfabrik Papier in Düren should not only be a beacon for successful structural change in its research work, but also in terms of research infrastructure,” says Kranz-Pitre, explaining the challenging objective.

More than a dozen regional and national construction companies had expressed an interest in building the innovative research facility, which includes a technology center, laboratories and office space covering an area of around 6,500 square meters. The companies downloaded the extensive planning documents, which comprise more than 600 pages. At the end of October, the targeted call for tenders was sent to selected interested parties. These companies now have until the end of the year to submit their offers. This means that construction will not begin until next spring.

“The delay will not harm our research,” says MFP Managing Director Peter Bekaert, and emphasizes: “A project as extensive and innovative as the Modellfabrik Papier requires agility and flexibility. Since the project began, we have repeatedly adapted to changing conditions. Dynamic management is part of our DNA.”

The paper model factory is currently located at the interim site at the Jülich Research Center. Here, the Institute of Plant Sciences IBG-2, a research partner of the Modellfabrik Papier, offers an excellent infrastructure. Further research activities in the research cluster Modellfabrik Papier (FOMOP) also take place at the locations of the other six research partners involved, depending on their specialist and paper-technological orientation. “We are very confident that we will be able to extend our stay in Jülich until our research building is ready for occupancy,” says Bekaert. This is now expected to be the case in the second half of 2026.