The new laboratory building at the University of Siegen is more reminiscent of a hub than a conventional research building. The hybrid building is intended to promote collaboration between the individual chairs and departments in the future, as the name INCYTE, which stands for Interdisciplinary Laboratory Building for Nanoanalytics, Nanochemistry and Cyberphysical Sensor Technologies, suggests. However, it is not only functionally that the new building enables good collaboration; communication with one another has also found its place in the planning: Similar to a showcase, windows have been installed on the individual floors so that the central foyer constantly provides new perspectives for collaboration. This transparency is further emphasised by the open connection between the floors via the light-flooded air space: from the ground floor, you have an almost unobstructed view right up to the top floor.

In addition to multifunctionality, the building is characterised by three key requirements arising from its use: vibration-free storage of highly sensitive measuring equipment, maintaining a constant temperature in the clean room and in the adjacent large equipment laboratories and electromagnetic shielding of the microscopes. The high-resolution transelectron microscopes measure in the nanometre range and must therefore be shielded from external influences such as electromagnetic interference and vibrations. For this reason, a second base is built on top of the actual foundation, which is mounted on air springs and can therefore absorb the smallest vibrations so that no measurements are distorted. The topography of the Haardter Berg is also utilised, with large parts of the large device laboratories being built into the mountain. This minimises external influences and also benefits the requirement for constant temperatures in the laboratories.