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Architects: Christ & Gantenbein
- Area: 2704 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Stefano Graziani
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Manufacturers: Annette Douglas Textiles AG, Gerber-Vogt AG, Huber Straub AG Bauunternehmung, INCHFURNITURE, Isolag AG für integrierte Deckensysteme, R+ R Metallbau AG, Regent
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Lead Architects: Emanuel Christ, Christoph Gantenbein, Tabea Lachenmann, Astrid Kühn, Lorcán Koethe, Mathias Pfalz, Sven Richter, Merethe Skjellvik, Stephanie Wamister
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General Contractor: ARGE, Aebli Zimmermann
Text description provided by the architects. The new research and marketing building for a worldwide leader in dry processing technologies quotes archetypes from the local industrial architecture into a self-assured building, combining clever distribution of spaces and an accomplished aesthetic presence.
Six load-bearing walls are entrenched within the subtle slope, spreading like a fan and taking advantage of the plot’s specific form. The resulting five building bodies accommodate different uses such as offices, meeting rooms and an auditorium. At the end of three of these five fingers, sealed rooms enclosed by high concrete walls are dedicated to technical experiments as well as demonstrations that can be observed from large round windows in the meeting rooms and entrance foyer. On the ground floor, these laboratories can be accessed through big gates allowing the transport and movement of big machinery.
The main building structure is composed of a metal frame positioned on a concrete base, the inside of this structure is clad with perforated corrugated aluminum sheets, while the outside walls are clad in flat aluminum panels that confer its unmistakable finish to the outer shell. Further anchoring the building within an industrial architectural vocabulary, the characteristically sloping saw-tooth roofs provide plenty of light to the interiors.
In form of big lettering, a large-scale artistic intervention on the narrow entrance façade provides an additional distinctive feature, adding to the building nonchalant preciousness cast within its non-specific countryside surroundings.
