Merck Invests € 270 Million in a New Research Center and Vocational & Advanced Training in Darmstadt

• Translational Science Center for the Healthcare business sector to offer flexible ways of working coupled with the latest technology and equipment
• New Learning Center will bring all vocational training occupations together under one roof
• Both construction projects meet the highest sustainability requirements

Merck, a leading science and technology company, plans to invest € 270 million at its global headquarters in Darmstadt by building a new Translational Science Center for its Healthcare business sector as well as a new Learning Center. The two construction projects are part of the € 1 billion investment package that Merck announced in March 2019 and plans to realize in Darmstadt by 2025.

“Darmstadt is our site of the future. With these investments, we are underscoring the strategic importance of the site and our focus on sustainability and innovative ways of working,” said Kai Beckmann, CEO Electronics and Member of the Executive Board of Merck with responsibility for the Darmstadt site. “In addition, we will create an optimum working environment for many of our researchers as well as for our Vocational & Advanced Training unit.”

Innovative ways of working combined with science and sustainability

As of 2025, the new Translational Science Center will offer room for more than 500 scientists, who will conduct research in a wide variety of fields ranging from the identification of disease biomarkers to the development of targeted therapies. This € 200 million investment will give rise to an integrated, flexible-use laboratory building covering more than 30,000 m², that includes a café, a lecture hall, in vitro laboratories including a cell bank, as well as a modern and flexible knowledge environment.

The new Learning Center will enable Merck to house training facilities for all vocational training occupations in one spacious building. Seven floors with a surface area of more than 14,000 m² will offer space for laboratories, seminar rooms and workshops, among other things. The building will create sufficient room and an attractive environment for 50 employees from the Vocational Training department in order to prepare the company’s 600 apprentices for the workforce and their assignments within the company. Moreover, the Learning Center will be an important location for advanced training at Merck. The company is thus investing further to qualify its employees for the changing world of work. The building, which involves an investment of € 70 million, is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2024.

Both the Translational Science Center and the Learning Center have been designed as sustainable buildings. Energy supply is based on photovoltaics, geothermal energy and air-source heat pumps. The specially designed facades and the green roofs also help to save energy, lowering energy consumption by more than 60% and significantly reducing the carbon footprint compared with conventional solutions. Added to this is the use of sustainable, i.e. reusable, solvent-free and, where possible, regional building materials.