The new Laufen Forum is an
architecturally significant building that invites consumers, designers,
architects, distributors and retailers to experience the best in bathroom
design.
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| Visitors can even take a dip in the bathtub
while exploring the many vignettes. |
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Forum is surrounded by Laufen’s offices and
production facilities. Basel-based architecture firm Nissen & Wentzlaff
collaborated with Laufen’s art department to come up with the design. Viewed
from above, the building’s layout resembles a well-known Laufen washbasin.
Viewed from the ground, it resembles an organic sculpture cast in exposed
concrete.
The building was cast in one piece, exactly like
its ceramic model. The virtually windowless concrete structure is based on a
design principle akin to that of bridge construction. The extensively
projecting free-form structure is poised on a slope.
As a
well-insulated and low-energy building, it operates on a low amount of extra
heating via concrete core activation, a Swiss invention that activates the
concrete of a structure by continuously circulating water (or a different
temperature conductor) through flexible pipes that have been incorporated in
the floors, resulting in an even temperature everywhere.
The
reinforced concrete roof features 48 built-in sky lights, which play an
integral role in the building’s ventilation system. Lamellar vents are located
between the retaining walls that separate the exhibition booths on the ground
floor. Their dimensions are the same size as the skylights, which can be opened
to let air into the building for a green air conditioning method.
Source: Laufen
