New Horizons for Health
Whether malaria, tuberculosis, or coronavirus, recalcitrant diseases threaten people’s health time and again. The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel is helping to combat these diseases more quickly and effectively. In the new «Belo Horizonte» building, the institute will be able to fulfill its mission better than ever. A robust, multifunctional network supports the mission.
«Belo Horizonte» – the new Swiss TPH building in Allschwil near Basel – opens up new horizons for health.
«We are extremely excited about our new home,» says Jürg Utzinger, Director of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). «The new building combines state-of-the-art laboratories, education, and workspaces in a unique way and will enable us to better fulfill our mission to improve the health of people around the world.»
Architects Philipp Kunz and Renato Mösch combine this mission with timeless aesthetics and a far-sighted design. They call their masterpiece «Belo Horizonte» – an allusion to the architect Mendes da Rocha and to the home of modern architecture, the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon).
Espazium, the Swiss magazine for building culture, declared: The architecture stacks research, teaching, and services individually on top of each other and combines them in a way that promotes interdisciplinary exchange.
Partner for innovation
In this sense, new horizons for improving people’s health are emerging here – in Basel, Switzerland, and all over the world. For example, the Swiss TPH has been cooperating with the Basel-based biotech start-up RocketVax since June 2021. The partners are developing vaccines for the future.
The new home of Swiss TPH is situated on the BaseLink site in Allschwil, just outside Basel. This will be a new life sciences hotspot with more than 6,000 workplaces. Swiss TPH is one of the largest investors. Seven previously separate locations are now being united under one roof.
Multifunctional building
The multifunctional new building with a green facade was completed in fall 2021. All staff and students will have moved in by March 2022. It offers up to 725 workplaces and 150 laboratory spaces on around 13,000 m2 of usable space and six floors. In addition to offices and laboratories, the building also houses a library, auditoriums, training rooms, and a data center.
A resilient and multifunctional data network had to be created to cope with the wide range of tasks that Swiss TPH unites under one roof. For example, with their frequently changing projects and devices, laboratories have different connectivity requirements than office workplaces.
With R&M we were able to optimally implement our holistic plan.
Roger Brogli, Electrical Project Manager, Pro Engineering AG
A robust LAN required
The IT unit of Swiss TPH also called for a state-of-the-art data network. «Our tasks extend far beyond the conventional IT spectrum,» explains Head of IT Alain Bertolotti. This unit is responsible for the management, engineering, consulting, support, processes as well as maintenance of the IT and communication infrastructure, provides support for international projects, and trains specialists.
Furthermore, it is also responsible for the operation of the in-house data center. It provides special applications for data storage, content and document management, as well as a collaboration platform. Up to 900 users at Swiss TPH’s headquarters and 25 offices worldwide expect reliable data transmission for their research, teaching, and service activities.
Cabling from a single source
Pro Engineering AG as electrical planning engineer and Jaisli-Xamax AG as installation partner impressed with a plausible overall concept for the desired multifunctional network. Everything was to come from a single source:
- Structured cabling for buildings, IT, offices, laboratories, and data center
- Connection to the public broadband network
- System for monitoring the network infrastructure throughout the building
«We were free to choose our products and opted for R&M. With R&M, we were able to optimally implement our holistic approach,» says Roger Brogli from Pro Engineering. R&M developed the cabling of the data center directly with the customer.
Direct support from the supplier from the tender to acceptance was very important to the planning company. R&M was available at all times throughout the entire project with support, advice on design, planning, and product selection. «Communication with R&M works smoothly,» confirms Marco Erbsmehl of Jaisli-Xamax.
Just-in-time deliveries were agreed due to the tight schedule. In addition, R&M delivered the racks to the construction site pre-terminated in order to minimize the installation effort on site. The project was implemented on time and according to the customer’s wishes.
Reasons for choosing R&M
- Material quality
- All-in-one solution
- Expert advice
- Support in product selection
- Collaboration within the project
- Pre-terminated racks
- Just-in-time delivery
The R&M solution
The holistic concept for structured cabling systems in the new Swiss TPH building was implemented with R&Mfreenet, supplemented by automated infrastructure management with R&MinteliPhy.
The LAN connects the office environment, laboratories, auditoriums, training rooms, the data center, and building technology.
It comprises:
- Backbone with 10 km fiber optic cable
- A horizontal network with 190 km Cat. 7A copper cable
- 5,000 plug connections with Cat. 6A modules
- 10,000 Cat. 6A patch cords
- 100 racks for building distributors and data center
R&M developed an all-in-one concept for the data center. It includes rack housings, panels, internal cabling with cable management, PDUs, rack-series cooling systems, and monitoring with R&MinteliPhy.
The infrastructure management system R&MinteliPhy monitors all network areas in the building.
Swiss TPH
The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is a world-renowned institute in the field of global health with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. Associated with the University of Basel, Swiss TPH combines research, teaching, and services at a local, national and international level. More than 800 people from 80 countries work at Swiss TPH in areas such as infectious and non-communicable diseases, environment, society, and health, as well as health systems and programs.
Swiss TPH covers the entire value-added chain from innovation to apply to solve global health problems and strengthen public health systems. The interdisciplinary approach is considered unique.
The international teams research infectious and tropical diseases and test diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. Swiss TPH devotes great attention to social and ecological impacts on health with the aim of developing public health systems accordingly.
Last year, the portfolio included over 300 active projects in 135 countries. Swiss TPH employs 868 professionals, including 694 in Basel and 174 in the 25 offices worldwide (2021).
Swiss TPH works closely with scientific partners, health organizations, such as the WHO, industry, and sponsors. It is supported by the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt. The institute is an institution associated with the University of Basel.
www.swisstph.ch/en/
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