The new Balard Chemistry Building takes research to a whole new level
The new Chimie Balard building, now considered the largest real estate project dedicated to chemical research in France, was inaugurated on June 13, 2023, at the CNRS in Montpellier. The inauguration provided an opportunity to highlight the CNRS/Michelin HydrogenLab joint laboratory, whose far-reaching partnership is primarily based on ambitious fundamental research aimed at addressing a wide range of major industrial challenges in the hydrogen sector.
With 25,500 square meters of space capable of accommodating 800 people and 2.5 kilometers of laboratory benches, the new Balard Chemistry Building, located on the CNRS campus on Route de Mende, is the largest chemistry research center in France. It was inaugurated on Tuesday, June 13, by Pierre-André Durand, Prefect of the Occitanie region and Prefect of Haute-Garonne; Nadia Pellefigue, Vice President of the Occitanie Region responsible for Higher Education, Research, Europe, and International Relations, representing President Carole Delga; and Antoine Petit, President and CEO of the CNRS.
This building, funded to the tune of €62 million by the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée and €1 million by the CNRS, houses the research teams of the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules (IBMM) and the Charles Gerhardt Institute of Montpellier (ICGM), as well as the joint research units of the CNRS, the University of Montpellier, andthe ENSCM.
The largest chemistry research center
With this new building, Montpellier is now home to France’s largest chemistry research center, both in terms of floor space and staff. The center is designed to meet the high technical standards required by the research activities conducted there, featuring 244 research modules capable of accommodating nearly 800 people, an analysis and characterization platform housing heavy and medium-duty equipment dedicated to research teams and industrial partners, as well as an innovation and technology transfer center designed to host startups in the field of green chemistry.
The Balard building is at the heart of an integrated campus of exceptional scale that covers all disciplines of chemistry and its applications, particularly in the fields of energy (hydrogen and batteries), health (active ingredients, pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, biomolecules), the environment (air and water quality, seawater desalination), and green chemistry (biomass conversion).
Spotlight on Hydrogen
This new building houses, among other things, the joint CNRS / Michelin HydrogenLab, which aims to bring together the expertise of the Charles Gerhardt Institute of Montpellier (ICGM)—a joint research unit of the CNRS, the University of Montpellier, and the ENSCM—and that of Michelin’s Research & Development Division (DORD) in the study of hydrogen to develop sustainable and innovative materials.
This joint laboratory aims to develop new materials for fuel cell stacks and electrolysers through innovative approaches to the fabrication and shaping of these materials, with the goal of enhancing the sustainability of the hydrogen sector. The collaboration will involve the development of six projects, including doctoral theses, postdoctoral research, and master’s internships, focused on improving catalysts for water electrolysis as well as developing new membranes and nanofiber networks to significantly enhance durability.
Montpellier's chemistry community: working in harmony
The Balard Chemistry Cluster was established in 2007, at the initiative of the regional government and the national government, to organize the chemistry sector by giving it greater visibility and strong leadership, thereby formalizing the commitment of the universities, schools, and governing bodies of the chemistry laboratories: the University of Montpellier (UM), the National School of Chemistry of Montpellier (ENSCM), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and the National Center for Research (CNRS).
Located near the Triolet Campus of the University of Montpellier and on part of the CNRS campus, the two buildings—Chimie Balard Formation and Research the beating heart of Montpellier’s chemistry community. This clustering of the two largest laboratories in the immediate vicinity of the European Institute of Membranes has led to the emergence of an exceptional scientific campus, one of the very best in Europe, competing with the chemistry departments of prestigious European universities such as ETH (Zurich, Switzerland), Oxford and Bristol (United Kingdom), or the German center of excellence at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research (Mülheim).
The Balard Chemistry Cluster, which also includesthe Marcoule Institute of Separative Chemistry in the Gard department, aims to pursue an ambitious plan for the advancement of chemistry by pooling expertise and resources to promote sustainable development centered on three key areas: energy and materials; resource conservation and environmental protection; and chemistry in the service of human health and well-being.
Some facts and figures about the Balard Chemistry Building:
- 250,000 cubic meters of air extracted per hour, 2.5 kilometers of lab benches.
- The shared analysis and characterization platform (PAC), spanning over 1,600 square meters and open to both research teams and companies, houses heavy and medium-sized equipment (NMR spectrometers, diffractometers, etc.).
- The building was designed by the architectural firm Reichen et Robert & Associés, and the CNRS served as the project owner.
- The building also received special government funding through the DSIL fund (€1 million), allocated to cover the relocation of all equipment and devices from 15 buildings spread across four separate sites.