Square 3
Text from Novartis
A bright white building as contrast
The gleaming white building is set back from Fabrikstrasse in a tension-laden contrast with the surrounding old industrial buildings. Its lightness, simplicity and clarity lend the building an impressive calming influence. Metal, glass, and above all soft light shape the inside of the building, where the carefully selected materials provide for a cozy, intimate atmosphere. The four upper floors, whose continuous floor slabs lie in an offset arrangement at the ends, are accessed on the narrow side by free-floating spiral staircases.
Spiral stairs
Designed as a continuum, two upper floors in each case are alternately connected with each other at the east and west side in the atria by spiral open staircases. This creates the impression that the floors flow into each other. This open space design fosters communication and interaction in the building. The atria are twice the height of the rooms, representing a spatial link between the individual floors and serving as rest areas where users from the different floors can get together and talk.
Flowing transition to nature
The white glass facade is divided into three areas: Transparent, translucent and opaque sections. There is a flowing transition between the facade as an outer shell of the building on the one hand and nature on the other. The white facade thus absorbs the colors of nature and creates a corresponding link. The same function is fulfilled by the diagonally offset open outside terraces. The park planned on the north side of the building is matched inside the building by natural materials and warm colors. They are intended to convey the impression that the park extends into the building.
