Office building 55, MB Campus
MBC 55 is the first building of the new Max Bögl campus in Sengenthal (Upper Palatinate). The new building is part of an ensemble of building groups, squares and a 10 m wide north-south pedestrian axis that connects the 500 metre long area. The industrial environment is characterised by large, mostly enclosed building volumes and extensive storage areas for concrete components. These site-specific characters determine the basic appearance of the design.
The building structure is spanned by two diagonally opposing ancillary space and access cores. The fully glazed office zone is located in between. In front of the façades, flush with the cores on both long sides, is a Brise Soleil made of concrete columns and ceilings. This serves as sun protection. The columns are distinguished by their orientation of the disproportionate fluting. The shaft stands on a base formed from the slope of the slabs. In the transition to the closed façade, the column is first cut in half and then dissolves into structuring pilasters in the core façade.
The design of the staircases springs from the raw image of the industrial landscape of the factory site. The colour of the steel railings refers to the colour scheme of the construction machinery and vehicles. The flights of prefabricated concrete stairs reduce their width in the main stairwell and open up in the eye to the skylight.
The office zone is structured by a strict 2.70m grid. This allows a flexible division of the open work and meeting zones. A self-developed half-height modular room divider system acoustically separates the areas without interrupting the open space. These rectangular modules made of wooden formwork panels, as used in the neighbouring production plant for prefabricated concrete elements, are combined in different ways to meet the various spatial requirements. Acoustic separation is ensured by a sound-absorbing felt insert. The transition to the concrete core is marked by a walk-in cupboard, which accommodates further functions such as meeting bunks, telephone booths and lockers. The contrast between the dark brown coated surfaces of the formwork panels and their light untreated cut-edges makes the contours of the ensemble of partition walls, conference bunks and cupboards stand out graphically. This uniform furniture stands out clearly against the raw concrete structure of the building.
