3deluxe in/exterior
Leonardo Glass Cube – Exhibition pavilion with conference rooms
Location: North Rhine-Westphalia, northern Germany
Emanuel Raab
All photographs copyright 3deluxe
Photos by 3deluxe & Emanuel Raab
3deluxe
Having developed a number of temporary architectures and several virtual
architectural concepts, the Leonardo Glass Cube is the first permanent
building implemented by 3deluxe. The result of the interdisciplinary design
process is an integrative concept that combines architecture, interior
design, graphic design and landscape architecture into a complex aesthetic
entity.
3deluxe
The grounds of the glaskoch corporation, which has been run by the founding
family for five generations and distributes innovative high-grade glass
and gift articles under the “Leonardo” brand name world-wide, now boast
striking corporate architecture. Since the official inauguration on 24
May 2007 it now forms a central element in the brand’s overall communicative
presence. As an atmospheric brandworld, the Leonardo Glass Cube conveys
to guests and the staff alike the company’s philosophy and visions in
a stimulating manner. The open floor plan layout of the clearly designed
and multi-functional Leonardo building enables an integrative linkage
of product presentation zones, seminar and meeting rooms, inspiring work
areas and a lot more besides across a total area of 1,200 square meters.
Emanuel Raab
Unlike previous interior projects – mostly designed as self-contained
experience spaces separated from the exterior and the architectural context
– the interior of the Leonardo Glass Cube is closely interrelated to its
surroundings. This aspect allows for a reinterpretation of one of 3deluxe’s
essential leitmotifs: the staged overlaying of real and virtual elements
with the intention of changing both the space and the observer’s patterns
of perception.
Emanuel Raab
The glass façade of the building represents not only the interface between
interior and exterior, but also the passage to a hyper-naturalistic world
with heightened aesthetic appeal. A transparent print slides into the
insight or outlook as a subtly visible image plane. The graphically illustrated
elements displayed on it were derived from the architecture and the surrounding
landscape. They create a subtle puzzle, mingling with the reflections
of their models in reality. This process of visual concentration creates
a more intense impression of reality than the direct perception of real
objects would allow. In addition, through changes of perspective and the
incidence of light changing with daytime and seasons, a wide variety of
appearances is made possible. They lend the building poetic quality –
stories can be discovered, artificial landscapes explored. The façade
design not only entails references to the location and the materiality
of the company’s products, but also highlights a key feature in the Leonardo
brand philosophy: a modern, inspiring design that fires the imagination
and enables people to constantly perceive and shape their environment
anew.
Emanuel Raab
By melding medium format images of 6 x 7 cm with computer visualizations
of the interior the design devised by 3deluxe graphics brings together
two media that are completely different in aesthetic and crafts terms:
digitally generated pixel images and analog photography. The result: a
pixel-perfect artwork sized 6 x 96 m with a resolution of 100 dpi (which
involves an immense volume of data). It was printed onto PVB foil in 48
segments that were then laminated onto the back of the glass in the interspace
between the panes. Another special feature lies in the transparent quality
of the print in both directions, rendering the conventional method of
dot raster grids superfluous. The technology, at present only available
in the US, was used for the first time on such a large scale.
Emanuel Raab
The edificial structure consists essentially of two formally contrasting
elements: A geometrically stringent, cube-like shell volume and a freeform
positioned centrally in the interior. The undulating, curved white wall
encases an introverted exhibition space and its other side circumscribes
the extroverted hallway along the glass façade. This “space within space”
arrangement meets the usage requirement of an artificially-lit product
presentation just as much as the high demands placed on it by those lingering
in the building. The hallway, which is truly bathed in natural daylight,
can be used for informal meetings and events as well as short breaks.
As such it is fitted out for the most part with made-to-measure lounge
furniture.
Emanuel Raab
Three white sculptural structures, so-called ‘Genetics’, partly extend
through openings in the curved wall and connect the separate zones of
the building to each other again. The organic shape of the objects necessitated
an elaborate construction method: Their surfaces are each composed of
two deep-drawn semi-shells made of acrylic material, for the production
of which original size models first had to be made. The substructure consists
of a steel tubing, encased in a timber skeleton frame. One of the ‘Genetics’
marks the access point to the lobby, which is set back from the façade
inside the free form.
Emanuel Raab
The vertical pathways through the two-storey building generally proceed
along the fluently formed boundary, in the centre of which a void crossed
by bridges connects top floor and basement. Entering the Glass Cube through
the ground-floor main entrance, visitors encounter a space that opens
up not just horizontally, but also upwards and downwards. The ground-floor
bridge affords a generous view of the main exhibition area one storey
below and provides an initial point of orientation in the edifice as a
whole. On both floors the wall rolls in to form niches that are used for
various functions such as themed product orchestrations and meeting lounges.
Emanuel Raab
The structure of the free-form inner wall represents an innovation in
dry construction: As the plasterboard panels of the outer layer can only
be bent one-dimensionally, experiments were conducted that involved interlacing
mutually curved panels in complex shapes. In particular in the breaks
in the wall the resulting joint design predominates as a significant graphic
design element. In order to ensure that the wall realised corresponds
precisely with the 3D computer model, the fulllength projections of the
wall segments were divided into a dense grid of measurement points. On
the side facing the façade, the material nature of the white surface is
visually dissolved by means of a layer of gauze suspended in front. The
natural daylight pouring in produces dazzling moire effects in the translucent
fabric’s delicate texture, which in turn are reflected in the glass facade.
3deluxe
The fact that the curvature of the walls and floors is continued in the
suspended ceiling in the form of a system of ventilation joints also required
high precision with regard to planning and execution. Every single one
of the approximately 250 plasterboard panels that meet up with the joints
was CNCmilled, numbered and assembled using a laying plan and exact measurement
points, before the interstices were filled with rectangular standard formats.
3deluxe
So as to enable an almost unhindered view outside, the glass façade was
constructed over a width of 36 meters without any pillars. In the joints
of the six meter-high, frameless panes of laminated safety glass thin
steel cables are suspended between floor and ceiling, disk springs counterbalance
deformations caused by wind pressure. Nor was there any need for vertical
supporting profiles on the corners of the building (façade planning: Schlaich
Bergermann und Partner).
3deluxe
On the glass façade ‘Genetics’ appear again in the form of superimposed
pilaster strips, which give the impression of a two-dimensional silhouette
of the structure on the interior. Their ramifications are continued in
a network of white concrete pathways that surrounds the entire building
and lets it grow together with its location. An individual mould was made
for each of the 187, approximately eight square meter elements. The areas
between the paths are vegetated with lawn or sloped to illuminate the
basement.
Emanuel Raab
With its trailblazing corporate architecture, the Leonardo brand once
again presents itself in a visionary manner – in keeping with its claim
“inspiration for modern living“.
Leonardo Glass Cube - photographs / text from 3deluxe May 2008
3deluxe
Leonardo Glass Cube
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