Kunz und Mösch Architekten

Description

The Criminal Justice Centre in Muttenz combines courts, prosecution authorities and a jail under one roof. The elongated plot of land is bordered on the north by Swiss Federal Railways tracks. On the south side is a heterogeneous urban fabric of industrial/commercial and residential buildings. The new five-storey building engages with this duality. While the volume responds linearly on the track side, it projects outward on the south side to intermesh with its surroundings. The bends on this side mark the entrances while generating a prominent profile on the cityscape. The wrap-around façade interprets the industrial atmosphere of the setting with an elegant skin of vertical supports and horizontal bands. The storeys are visually grouped in sets of two, defining the building’s scale while underscoring the public character of the ground floor with the courtrooms. The urban configuration is then loosened on the interior. In the area where the bends are located, the floor plan broadens to make space for light wells extending over two storeys.