Daniel Hoffmann / Jan Meier

Description

The new Laces – a research and development building with 1,700 workplaces – blends into the existing World of Sports ensemble as a floating counterpart to the black, recumbent mass of the adidas Brand Centre. Its clearly contoured volume positively lures people on the surrounding campus to come inside and discover its interior, an atrium with a controlled climate. Lined up in a circular arrangement, the office areas with their large glazed surfaces open onto the atmospheric atrium and the remarkable landscaped spaces. The connecting walkways, or “laces”, efficiently afford access to all office areas without the need to cross through other departments. They “tie” the built volume together, as it were, to form a many-layered office building that is rich in relationships. This enables a maximum of interaction and allows open areas of communication to emerge. As delicate connecting bridges, the laces weave a poetic spatial structure into the interior and thus make the special creative atmosphere of the building legible. The result is an inspiring place for research and product development.