Burkhalter Sumi

Description

The building marks the approach to the Eichhof site, a large beer brewery in Lucerne. The three-storey tower building, which in terms of volume replaces the demolished villa, is classically articulated with a recessed plinth, piano nobile and recessed roof level, thus integrating itself in the existing development on Obergrundstrasse. At the same time there are uninterrupted views towards the west from the beer garden of the restaurant. By preserving and continuing the boundary along the road, the atmosphere of the place – hedges, different kinds of trees, gravel etc. – is preserved. The square figure of the plan and the centrally positioned circulation core offer a high degree of flexibility for offices that can be organised individually floor by floor or can occupy several storeys. The horizontal parapet bands and the streamlined rounded corners – a reference to certain buildings from the 1930s – lend the new building the requisite dynamic quality, on the one hand as a reference to the flow of traffic along Obergrundstrassse and on the other as a kind of “branding” of the new structure. The building is heated and cooled by means of the TABS (Thermal-Active-Building Element System), which employs the flat floor slabs as storage mass. The ventilation and electrical service runs are laid in the double floor. Depending on the time of year the back-ventilated bands of double windows operate differently. In winter the immobile cushion of air between the panes of glass stores warmth, whereas the draught created in summer has a cooling effect. The louvers integrated in the windows work automatically, they function as sunblinds and regulate the entry of light. Noise protection glass is used to reduce disturbances from the busy Obergrundstrasse. The proposed material for the parapet bands is a back-ventilated Swissfiber construction or rendered external thermal insulation.