Construction has begun on the 30-hectare Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) campus in Heilbronn, southwest Germany.
The site will eventually host around 5,000 people working across science, business, and government, with a shared focus on developing “innovative and responsible” AI.
Designed by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, the car-free business campus is arranged in a circular layout defined by two off-centre axes.
The first phase of construction includes a cylindrical communications centre with a reflective façade that will house exhibition areas, conference and seminar spaces, and a cream-coloured restaurant building with orange “grotto façades” forming terraces.
Later phases will add a mobility hub featuring logistics and infrastructure areas centred around an entrance atrium. A living lab will provide offices and a large laboratory hall, while an office building with a pleated photovoltaic façade will feature double-height “living rooms” on each floor.
Each building has been designed according to its function and developed using MVRDV’s CarbonSpace tool, which monitors carbon use throughout the design and construction process. Lightweight and bio-based structures will be prioritised over carbon-intensive alternatives.
The campus has been designed to meet DGNB sustainability certification standards set by the German Sustainable Building Council.
“Working in AI is very technical — people spend a lot of time tied to their screens. We designed the IPAI Campus as a counterweight to this, with a focus on wellbeing,” said Jacob van Rijs, founding partner of MVRDV.
“We conducted wind studies to ensure a pleasant microclimate in the public spaces, allowing people to make use of the sports facilities on-site. It’s a design that really emphasises the ‘human’ part of IPAI’s mission to be the global home of human AI,” van Rijs added.
The project is being developed by the IPAI Konsortium, a partnership between the State of Baden-Württemberg, the non-profit Dieter Schwarz Foundation, Schwarz Gruppe, and the City of Heilbronn.
The first phase of the IPAI campus is scheduled to open in 2027.
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