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Administrativ Building
Theaterstrasse 15 - 17, Winterthur
1992 - 2000
This
complex of service and administration buildings, designed by the
architectural office Burkhard Meyer, is the result of a project
competition from the year 1992.
The tower was built in the years 1996 to 2000 the lower meander building followed from 1999 to 2005. The building ensemble refers to a traditional construction in Winterthur.
Since the industrialization brick was for a long time the preferred building material in Winterthur. The extensive use of this material resulted in a homogeneously appearing
urban fabric. The horizontal and vertical extent of the different buildings is not to be understood as opposites, but as a principle of volumetric composition.
For the entire ensemble brick is used in various application modes and tones. With the completion of the 89-meter-high Swisscom skyscraper, the building became
the new focal point of Winterthur. In order to ensure the desired high precision of the design, the architects have pre-produced a large part of the construction.
Around 80 percent of the entire building is made of prefabricated parts which were delivered by rail or trucks. So the architects got the possibility to control well
the parts and their coincidence. The large amount of equal parts has made the prefabrication reasonably economical. Thanks to its sculptural form the tower shows
always a new face. The high-rise building consists of prefabricated, ventilated clinker panels whose oppressive gravity is absorbed and structured by horizontal concrete cornices.
The interplay of horizontal elements and vertically aligned volumetrics creates an illusion, an interaction between the expression of heavyness to lightness. The longer
one observes the building the more arises the impression that two conflicting intentions have worked on the construction: A force pulled up, the other down.
This layout expresses the dynamic emerging from the high-rise and at the same time linkes it to the ground of the city. In contrast, the low-rise buildings are marked
by conventional masonery technics with different color schemes and textures.
The tower was built in the years 1996 to 2000 the lower meander building followed from 1999 to 2005. The building ensemble refers to a traditional construction in Winterthur.
Since the industrialization brick was for a long time the preferred building material in Winterthur. The extensive use of this material resulted in a homogeneously appearing
urban fabric. The horizontal and vertical extent of the different buildings is not to be understood as opposites, but as a principle of volumetric composition.
For the entire ensemble brick is used in various application modes and tones. With the completion of the 89-meter-high Swisscom skyscraper, the building became
the new focal point of Winterthur. In order to ensure the desired high precision of the design, the architects have pre-produced a large part of the construction.
Around 80 percent of the entire building is made of prefabricated parts which were delivered by rail or trucks. So the architects got the possibility to control well
the parts and their coincidence. The large amount of equal parts has made the prefabrication reasonably economical. Thanks to its sculptural form the tower shows
always a new face. The high-rise building consists of prefabricated, ventilated clinker panels whose oppressive gravity is absorbed and structured by horizontal concrete cornices.
The interplay of horizontal elements and vertically aligned volumetrics creates an illusion, an interaction between the expression of heavyness to lightness. The longer
one observes the building the more arises the impression that two conflicting intentions have worked on the construction: A force pulled up, the other down.
This layout expresses the dynamic emerging from the high-rise and at the same time linkes it to the ground of the city. In contrast, the low-rise buildings are marked
by conventional masonery technics with different color schemes and textures.