<Tech Cluster Zug, Headquarters V-Zug, Zug, 2022–2023, Competition 1st prize

Metall Zug AG's current 82,000 m² production site will be converted into a technology cluster that promotes sustainable urban production and training. The V-ZUG buildings will be concentrated on the northern site to free up space for future developments. In addition to manufacturing companies and training facilities, businesses, services and housing will move into the quarter. A transformation process that, based on the development plan from 2018, should be completed by 2045.

V-ZUG has been developing and producing internationally marketed household devices for kitchens and laundry rooms in Zug for over 100 years. The headquarters, known as Zephyr West, is intended to embody the values of V-ZUG and become a center for development.

A competition was launched for the architectural project for the V-ZUG headquarters. The project by Diener & Diener was recommended to the client for further processing and execution.

The perimeter is located in the midst of the V-ZUG production and logistics buildings, which are already joined by the Zephyr Ost building currently under construction. The building forms a connecting piece between Zephyr Ost and ZUGgate with an address and orientation towards the open space to the south. It has its main entrance next to a spacious, two-storey colonnade that runs along the west side of the building and extends to the south, where the foyer with reception, forum / café leads into an outdoor seating area. Together with the meeting rooms, the entrance offers different usage scenarios and becomes a dynamic meeting point. Large-format artificial stone slabs with open joints separate the pedestrian-friendly area around the building from the 

asphalt of the industrial site and also lead to the communal lawn, which complements the building in a natural way. Bordered on both sides by a grove and finely graded towards the south to form a paved area, it offers a wide variety of play options. The footpath running through the grove provides access to and addresses the headquarters and brings a human scale to the industrial environment.

The vertically stacked structure manifests itself in two layers - the two storeys slightly set back to the south and west with the main entrance and meeting rooms, and the eight storeys above with offices and test rooms, of which the top storey with meeting rooms and café becomes a common area. The structure is connected to the neighboring buildings via passerelles. Brise soleils made of slanted photovoltaic strips on the long sides lend depth to the façade. Despite the heterogeneous requirements and the vertical staggering, the continuous façade grid makes the building appear homogeneous in its appearance. To the south, at office level, two-storey loggias provide a spacious outdoor area for employees. Here, the vertical PV modules act as solar shading and filter the light.

The storeys are divided by two diagonally opposite, compact cores and connected by a transparent and filigree spiral staircase. The arrival and meeting points are as such also used as coffee points. The open-space organization allows for a variety of exchange opportunities. The floors can be flexibly subdivided and allow easy orientation. The southern core, accessible from the main entrance, is dedicated to circulation, while the northern core is for goods transportation and toilets.

The structural concept provides for the two basement floors to be constructed in reinforced concrete. All above-ground storeys are proposed in a timber-concrete hybrid construction method, which combines the advantages of the materials thanks to prefabricated ceiling modules with timber ribs and concrete overlay and integrated heating and cooling sails, as well as enabling a high degree of pre-installation in the building services. Wooden ceilings and supports, ceiling sails between the wooden ribs and mineral floors characterize the interior spaces.

On the roof, the longitudinal beams are cantilevers for suspending the loggia layer to the south and are clad with vertically positioned photovoltaic panels. The space in between is green. Thanks to the different orientations, the photovoltaic system continuously generates electricity during the course of the day.

The building is not only transparent and filigree, but also green thanks to the loggias, and radiates warmth with the reddish artificial stone pilaster strips on the outside and the wooden ceilings on the inside. This sets it apart from the more closed production buildings.