Marin Centre
The realization of the new Marin Centre was planned in stages in order to replace the existing center without interrupting commercial activities. From the motorway located in the north, a direct access leads to the five-stories parking. From there, ramps guide to the main space, a central hall flooded with natural light penetrating through the glazed roof. At the west end, a terrace opens out to the natural landscape and the pedestrian walkway linking the Centre to the village of Marin. The station situated south of the Center enables direct access by public transport.
Rubble from the demolition of the old shopping centre was used to create a series of green pyramids that anchor the shopping centre into its context. In this way, attractive accessing routes were created for visitors who reach the centre on foot or by bicycle, bus or train. The staggered implementation was also tailored in a way to ensure that no interruption in retailing operations was necessary and only one moving date had to be announced.
The architecture of the building outwardly presents itself as a shell that unites the expression of the different sides. It consists of 6'400 shiny, black metal plates and 900 pixel-shaped, scattered openings. Large openings created by placing diagonal levels together produce perspectives that precisely refer to the entrances, thereby guiding visitors into the centre. Especially short distances connect the car park and the pedestrian walkway to a large central area in full sunlight, recalling an urban square.
The roof of this central space is perforated by irregular openings that are sometimes big enough to see the sky and sometimes slimmer, creating an altering play of light during the course of the day and in different seasons. That space, to which all shops are directly connected, forms the heart of the shopping centre. Its simple geometric form communicates a certain permanence in the face of the changeability that is characteristic of the interior decoration of individual stores. Its shell is based on prefabricated timber construction and includes various openings to control the space's climate.
The theme or energy consumption was a major part of planning to make significant reductions to the heating and power requirements. The Minergie-certified new Marin Centre has a very low consumption per m2: approximately 20% of the average consumption of buildings used in a comparable way in Switzerland. Compared to the previous building, the heating consumption per m2 was reduced to a third and power requirements were reduced by half. The measures to reduce the heating requirements above all affect the thermal quality of the shell and the heat recovery of all cooling equipment. In terms of power consumption, the central space, the use of natural lighting and passive air-conditioning were the focuses, as well as the integration of active panels and a selection of especially high performance devices that use LED technology for certain applications.
In parallel to the measures in the field of energy, other environmental aspects were integrated from the start, for instance minimizing exhaust emissions on the estate, an eco-friendly approach to rain water (through seepage and retention facilities), the selection of materials with a strong environmental balance-sheet (e.g. the timber construction for the roof of the central space) and a considerable increase in the species diversity on the grounds (due to green roofs and expansive meadows instead of the old car park). A supplementary photovoltaic system with solar cells was installed over an area of 6'810 m2 of the multi-storey car park. It will contribute to increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the regional power grid.
