diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 860796f5c279..e0531010054a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY USE_FOLDERS ON)
 # Options and Variants
 
 option(alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build the examples" OFF)
+option(alpaka_BUILD_BENCHMARKS "Build the benchmarks" OFF)
 
 # Enable the test infrastructure only if alpaka is the top-level project
 if(CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL PROJECT_NAME)
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ set(_alpaka_INCLUDE_DIRECTORY "${_alpaka_ROOT_DIR}/include")
 set(_alpaka_SUFFIXED_INCLUDE_DIR "${_alpaka_INCLUDE_DIRECTORY}/alpaka")
 
 # the sequential accelerator is required for the tests and examples
-if(alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES OR BUILD_TESTING)
+if(alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES OR alpaka_BUILD_BENCHMARKS OR BUILD_TESTING)
   if (NOT (alpaka_ACC_GPU_CUDA_ONLY_MODE OR alpaka_ACC_GPU_HIP_ONLY_MODE))
     if (NOT DEFINED alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE)
       option(alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE "enable alpaka serial accelerator" ON)
@@ -148,6 +149,10 @@ if(alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES)
     add_subdirectory("example/")
 endif()
 
+if(alpaka_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
+    add_subdirectory("benchmarks/")
+endif()
+
 # Only build the tests if alpaka is the top-level project and BUILD_TESTING is ON
 if(CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL PROJECT_NAME AND BUILD_TESTING)
     add_subdirectory("test/")
diff --git a/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt b/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3ae15f537d4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2023 Benjamin Worpitz, Jan Stephan, Mehmet Yusufoglu
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
+#
+
+################################################################################
+# Required CMake version.
+################################################################################
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.22)
+
+project("alpakaBenchmarks" LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+################################################################################
+# Add subdirectories.
+################################################################################
+
+add_subdirectory("babelstream/")
diff --git a/example/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt b/benchmarks/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt
similarity index 78%
rename from example/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt
index b4cea499d443..e2382a1139d8 100644
--- a/example/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/benchmarks/babelstream/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ project(babelstream LANGUAGES CXX)
 if(NOT TARGET alpaka::alpaka)
     option(alpaka_USE_SOURCE_TREE "Use alpaka's source tree instead of an alpaka installation" OFF)
     if(alpaka_USE_SOURCE_TREE)
-        # Don't build the examples recursively
-        set(alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES OFF)
+        # Don't build the benchmarks recursively
+        set(alpaka_BUILD_BENCHMARKS OFF)
         add_subdirectory("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../.." "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/alpaka")
     else()
         find_package(alpaka REQUIRED)
@@ -22,4 +22,6 @@ endif()
 alpaka_add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/main.cpp src/Stream.h src/AlpakaStream.cpp src/AlpakaStream.h)
 target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC ALPAKA)
 target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC alpaka::alpaka)
-set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER example)
+set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER benchmarks)
+
+# add_test(NAME ${_TARGET_NAME} COMMAND ${_TARGET_NAME})
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.cpp b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.cpp
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.cpp
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.cpp
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.h b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.h
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.h
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/AlpakaStream.h
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/LICENSE b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/LICENSE
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/LICENSE
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/LICENSE
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/README.md b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/README.md
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/README.md
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/README.md
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/Stream.h b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/Stream.h
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/Stream.h
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/Stream.h
diff --git a/example/babelstream/src/main.cpp b/benchmarks/babelstream/src/main.cpp
similarity index 100%
rename from example/babelstream/src/main.cpp
rename to benchmarks/babelstream/src/main.cpp
diff --git a/example/CMakeLists.txt b/example/CMakeLists.txt
index bb6f1061a590..16db8c615b68 100644
--- a/example/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/example/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,4 +33,3 @@ add_subdirectory("randomCells2D/")
 add_subdirectory("reduce/")
 add_subdirectory("tagSpecialization/")
 add_subdirectory("vectorAdd/")
-add_subdirectory("babelstream/")
diff --git a/script/run_generate.sh b/script/run_generate.sh
index 142bfa484ca9..1ac297a0ca7e 100755
--- a/script/run_generate.sh
+++ b/script/run_generate.sh
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ mkdir -p build/
 cd build/
 
 "${ALPAKA_CI_CMAKE_EXECUTABLE}" --log-level=VERBOSE -G "${ALPAKA_CI_CMAKE_GENERATOR}" ${ALPAKA_CI_CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM}\
-    -Dalpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON -DBUILD_TESTING=ON "$(env2cmake alpaka_ENABLE_WERROR)" \
+    -Dalpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON -DBUILD_TESTING=ON -Dalpaka_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON "$(env2cmake alpaka_ENABLE_WERROR)" \
     "$(env2cmake BOOST_ROOT)" -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR="${ALPAKA_CI_BOOST_LIB_DIR}/lib" -DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS=ON -DBoost_USE_MULTITHREADED=ON -DBoost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME=OFF -DBoost_ARCHITECTURE="-x64" \
     "$(env2cmake CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)" "$(env2cmake CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS)" "$(env2cmake CMAKE_C_COMPILER)" "$(env2cmake CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER)" "$(env2cmake CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS)" "$(env2cmake CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS)"\
     "$(env2cmake alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE)" "$(env2cmake alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_THREADS_ENABLE)" \