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VitraHaus

Location
Weil am Rhein,Germany
Design firm
Herzog & de Meuron
Typology
Commercial
Years
2006–2010
Status
Complete

Facade facts

Facade summary
A complex composition of stacked gabled house shapes featuring a textured charcoal-grey stucco exterior skin on the sides and roofs,and complete,minimalist glazing at the gable ends.
Documented intention
Herzog & de Meuron chose the 'ur-house' shape to create a familiar scale suitable for domestic furniture displays. The choice of dark charcoal stucco was intended to ground the complex, high-volume composition in the local landscape and contrast with the nearby white-finished campus buildings.
Street relationship
The open glazed gables act as oversized vitrines visible from the public road and campus paths, creating an active visual dialogue between the interior furniture displays and the landscape.
Climate relationship
The dark stucco absorbs heat, while the highly recessed glazed ends benefit from deep self-shading provided by the overhanging,cantilevered gables,which reduces solar heat gain.
Window pattern
Massive single openings located exclusively at the terminal gable ends of each volume,acting as floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows.
Glazing
Double or triple glazing with low-E coating
Depth
Pronounced depth created by 12 stacked,orthogonal, and diagonally oriented volumes with cantilevers extending up to 15 meters.
Rhythm
Dynamic and asymmetrical, composed of intersecting and piled volumes rather than a repetitive grid.
Stucco / Plaster
Stucco/Plaster — All vertical side walls,sloped roof planes, and underside soffits of the stacked volumes. — Rough,textured finish.
Glass
Glass — Gable end-faces of each volume. — Transparent,clear low-iron glass.
Aluminum
Aluminum — Window frames of the glazed end-faces. — Powder-coated.
Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS)
Insulated exterior render cladding applied seamlessly across both vertical walls and pitched roof slopes to give the gabled volumes a uniform,monolithic appearance.
Structural Glazed Curtain Wall
Floor-to-ceiling glass facade installed at the open ends of the gabled structures with minimal aluminum frame profiles to maximize transparency.

Tags

Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS)

Description

The VitraHaus facade consists of two distinct components. The first is a textured, monolithic plaster/stucco coating in a dark charcoal color that wraps around all solid vertical walls, sloped roofs, and underside soffits of the intersecting gabled structures. The second is the floor-to-ceiling glass wall at the ends of each volume. These clear glazed ends have minimal framing to emphasize the 'cut' section of the house shape, framing interior viewpoints and turning the interiors into glowing vitrines at night.

Visual analysis

The coarse, dark grey stucco lends the massive, cantilevered concrete shapes a heavy, solid, and almost geological quality. This heaviness is dissolved by the fully transparent gable ends, which create a weightless appearance, especially in the evening when the illuminated showrooms glow from within, making the solid walls fade into darkness.

Gallery

Sources

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