ZEISS High-Tech Campus Jena: Architecture Between Topography, Technology, and Transparency

With its new high-tech campus in Jena, ZEISS is writing a significant chapter in the architectural history of industrial design—one that dissolves the traditional boundaries between production, research, and office work. Designed by the architectural firm Nething, a building ensemble covering approximately 118,000 square meters is set to be completed by the end of 2026, providing space for around 3,300 employees. The design unites the functional demands of a global technology group with the complex conditions of a topographically challenging site.

The new high-tech campus in Jena marks a new chapter in architectural industrial history ©Nething Architekten / ZEISS

The architecture responds to the site’s natural elevation difference of around 20 meters with a terraced concept: two massive base levels accommodate the large-scale production areas, while five more slender building volumes rise above, stretching out across the site like the fingers of an open hand, extending toward the city. These volumes are interconnected by a long, elongated atrium structure that forms not only the structural but also the social backbone of the campus. The light-filled atriums act as hubs of communication and visual intersections between departments and disciplines. This openness is intentional in concept and precisely articulated in design. Generous glazing, permeable transitions, and a finely balanced interplay of recesses, courtyards, and sightlines enable diverse spatial relationships. The boundaries between interior and exterior, between work and interaction, begin to blur.

The building complex makes a topographical leap in height, with a height difference of around 20 metres ©Nething Architekten / ZEISS

Both formally and conceptually, the design references an iconic element of the ZEISS world: the prism. As a central component in optics, the prism here symbolizes the ability to refract, direct, and recombine light—and, in a figurative sense, knowledge, communication, and innovation. Faceted façades and dynamically cut volumes interpret this metaphor in architectural form. The result is a distinctive architectural language that, despite the industrial scale, maintains a human sense of proportion and integrates harmoniously into Jena’s fine-grained urban fabric.

The new Carl Zeiss Promenade, leading to the main entrance at the highest point of the site, marks the access to the campus and simultaneously signals a deliberate opening toward the city. Rather than presenting itself as a secluded technology enclave, this new urban component represents a forward-looking commitment—one that extends beyond its physical manifestation into the promise of the future.