New extension building
Due to the increasing number of employees over the last decade and a half, an extension of the institute building has become necessary. While a provisional interim building meets additional needs on an interim basis, a new extension building will be constructed on the MPIA campus in the coming years. It will provide sufficient space for additional offices, meeting rooms, laboratories and a new canteen.

In the more than 50 years since its foundation in 1969, the number of people employed at the MPIA has been constantly increasing, resulting in office space becoming increasingly scarce. In the meantime, a storey was added to the main building and rooms were reallocated to provide temporary relief. Due to its ever-growing success with many international projects, the MPIA expanded again in 2020 by establishing a third research department. Laura Kreidberg heads this new department dedicated to the physics of exoplanet atmospheres. With this, if not before, the need for a new building arose.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of employees have been accommodated in a temporary building. However, the workforce will continue to grow in the foreseeable future, partly due to the appointment of Myriam Benisty as the new head of the department for the study of planet and star formation. In 2024, she took over from Thomas Henning, who continues his research as Emeritus Professor.
The construction of a new, permanent extension building officially began in November 2024 with a ground-breaking ceremony and is expected to be completed by 2026. The interim building will be dismantled again once the new building is occupied.
The almost cube-shaped building with four levels and barrier-free access will be added to the south end of the existing main building and connected to it at all levels by glazed walkways around 7 metres long. In addition to offices for 46 new workplaces, there will also be seminar and meeting rooms, among other things. In addition, there will be laboratories focusing on optics and spectroscopy, including clean room facilities, technical rooms, IT service areas, and a server room.
Furthermore, a new canteen, which will accommodate the current and future staff, will replace the existing one in the MPIA's main building. The square in front of the main building will also be redesigned to provide direct access to the extension.
The architecture firm kreuger wilkins architekten is responsible for the architecture and construction supervision of the building. The Max Planck Society is the client for the extension, which has a net cost volume of around 12.6 million euros.