Bavarian Nordic Fill-and-Flush Facility for Live Viral Vaccines

Kvistgård, Denmark

Award of Merit

OWNER: Bavarian Nordic A/S

LEAD DESIGN FIRM; STRUCTURAL AND MEP ENGINEER: IPS-Integrated Project Services

LEAD CONTRACTOR: John Sisk and Son (Holdings) Ltd.

CIVIL ENGINEER: KW Betonteknik A/S

SUBCONTRACTOR: Olsen & Pedersen Stal; Pro Ventilation; Cirkom A/S; IMA S.p.A.; Syntegon Technology GmbH


This renovation of the vaccine maker’s Kvistgård plant added on-site aseptic fill-and-finish capabilities, allowing the company to stop outsourcing that portion of the manufacturing process. The facility now has the capacity to produce 40 million doses of liquid frozen products and 8 million doses of freeze-dried products per year. 

The team was challenged to fit the addition into former office space and a brownfield on a tight, “landlocked” property, while still creating a facility that would meet FDA and European Union vaccine standards, as well as Danish occupational safety regulations. To overcome the small footprint, they worked with the local municipality to temporarily relax height restrictions during construction. The design ended up being so efficient that there was room left for an additional clinical R&D filling space. 

In order to expedite the project, the team issued the piping systems for the basement before completing the entire piping design, allowing construction to begin sooner. That saved about eight weeks, and the project was delivered in 30 months.