Peneder Basis Office Building
In this spacious new building in the small community of Atzbach the successful Upper Austrian family business could integrate their satellite locations into the traditional company headquarters. On the site where a blacksmith and coachery opened in 1922, the Peneder family had already erected an architecturally noteworthy manufacturing facility in 2000/2001 (architect: Andreas Ortner). To the east of the existing halls Tom Lechner created an orderly conclusion of the urban structure of the 250-employee ensemble with the Peneder Basis office building.
A part of the new administration tract is elevated to enable the parking garage below to be naturally lit and ventilated from the side. The complex opens to the neighboring district of Ritzling with an incredibly generous foyer and glass façade. This hall is navigated vertically with a glazed elevator and two flights of stairs that also function as emergency stairwells. The multifunctional assembly hall is publicly accessible as are the acclaimed restaurant, the cafeteria, and a small hotel in the southern part of the building. Lechner integrated the child supervision and education areas around the atriums in the south. A relaxation room is open to employees at all times and offers spectacular views over the impressive landscape.
External and internal communication are inherent characteristics of the company and the architecture. Transparent meeting rooms mediate between the foyer hall and the three pectinate office tracts for the company departments Construction, Fire Protection, and Steel. The offices in each tract, in turn, are organized along a lavish central communication zone.
The two arrows of the Peneder logo are stamped a thousandfold into the “Stainless Steel Curtain”. This shell of folded sheet steel with the discrete, abstracted reference to the company connects the outside with the inside and breaks up the massive building volume of the company headquarters.
Plants and landscape elements from the Hausruck region set the ambience in the three courtyards of the pectinate building – a metaphor of a blossoming orchard meadow. The open space design by 3:0 Landscape Architects connects the new complex with the existing buildings and offers an added value for employees.
