Berrel Kräutler Architekten: putting people front and centre

TEXT: CORNELIA BRELOWSKI

Berrel Kräutler architecture focuses on a detailed analysis of the context, the needs of the future users as well as the economic framework – and puts the human being front and centre.

“At the heart of our architecture lies a careful examination of the context,” architect Maurice Berrel reveals. “It includes the location, existing buildings, natural conditions – the so-called hard facts.” Equally important to Berrel are the future users, a mindful use of resources, and the economic frame conditions. However, there is one crowning element: “Our main focus is people – be it the user of the building, the neighbour – or society as a whole, which is directly or indirectly influenced by every existing building.”

Administration Building Ittingen: The ornamental wood structure of the ceilings is also visible from the outside. Photo: Hannes Henz

Architectural responsibility

To this end, Berrel Kräutler Architekten starts every project from scratch. “We scrutinise existing solutions and look for an answer that is tailored to the specific situation and its requirements. We also respond to changing needs, technologies and conditions.” The architects know about their responsibility towards societal and environmental needs. “Every building is an intervention in the environment. Our aim is to use architecture to give a place tangible added value – as timeless and forward-looking as possible, for the people who will live, work and meet there.”

Part of the process is a constant questioning of existing solutions, generating respect from the community. “A building that is respected and valued by society will be maintained, used for many years and hopefully reach a very high age.” This approach, even if its benefits are not immediately measurable, improves the sustainability values of a building to a large extent in the long run.

Sonnenberg Swimming Pool, Engelberg: Winter operation with warm water outdoor pool. Rendering: maaars

Administration Building Ittigen – strengthening existing qualities

The Administration Center Ittigen has been home to various offices of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications since 2006. Berrel Kräutler Architekten convinced the jury in the open competition to expand the site by 900 workplaces in two stages.

The existing building pattern is continued in a self-evident way, with two elongated and compact structures aligned in the same direction. Berrel explains: “The result is a vibrant campus complex with rhythmically staggered squares and alleyways. It’s a direct response to the existing context and highlights an important aspect of our approach of incorporating existing qualities and strengthening them.”

At the heart of the concrete core, an atrium opens up between the two sculptural staircases. It is penetrated by several solid bodies and yet allows sunlight to reach the first floor. “This exciting inner world with its varied views is all about exchange and community. The meeting rooms and lounges are located here; this is the heart and soul of the building!”

The individual and open-plan offices are lined up along the façade, characterised not only by a wonderful view and optimal lighting and ventilation, but above all by the warm atmosphere produced by the building’s materials. Vertical wooden slats and projecting parapet bands characterise the façade and visually integrate the building into the existing campus. “The clever combination of wood and concrete is groundbreaking for sustainable construction,” declares Berrel. “The use of local wood improves the ecological balance and ensures a pleasant indoor climate. Meanwhile, the concrete provides horizontal and vertical rigidity and its storage capacity benefits energy requirements.” These are further met in an extremely resource-efficient manner by using waste heat from a neighbouring data centre, solar energy and cooling with spring water. The building has consequently been awarded Gold certification under the Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS).

Existing landscape elements were taken up and further developed with the exterior design of the new buildings. The result is a generous green space with vegetation typical of the floodplain along the banks of the Worble. On the slope side, the footpaths through the forest have been extended and shady rest areas have been created as recreation zones. The spaces between the buildings are clearly defined and equipped with groups of trees and outdoor furniture. A temporary park with dense shrubs and benches occupies the footprint already prepared for the second building.

Administration Building Ittingen: Dizzying stairwell. Photo: Damian Poffet

Expansion WHO Geneva – light-flooded, communicative, and green

The new building extends the existing headquarters of the World Health Organization in a park on the outskirts of Geneva. With its concept and design, it makes direct reference to Jean Tschumi’s masterpiece from 1966, with the addition structured in a similar way, consisting of a unifying plinth and a recessed first floor with a volume floating above it. A spacious hall in the connecting building and an open atrium in the office tower form the spatial centrepieces.

Taking up the storey structure of the Tschumi building, the logistical and functional interweaving is continued inside the new base building. A wide, internal passageway is designed as a gallery that overlooks the dining room and offers views of the garden beyond. Despite its location in the basement, there is a direct view of the greenery from everywhere. Attached to the passage are modular conference rooms with planted atriums. A large, divisible hall is also available on the 2nd basement floor – for meetings of up to 800 people. A terrace with a roof garden forms the upper end of the base building and invites people to stroll between the first floors of the two high-rise buildings.

WHO Headquarters Geneva: View of the tower from the roof terrace. Photo: Damian Poffet

The new concrete base with its large ribbon windows overlooking the park blends old and new. It is the new heart of the entire complex, a place where employees can meet for lunch or a coffee break, come together for conferences and meetings – or coordinate one of the 400 yearly WHO missions around the world.

Swiss Embassy Singapore – complete refurbishment and extension
The existing office building presents itself as a flat bungalow embedded in the scenic park landscape on the outskirts of Singapore.

The architectural language has been perfectly adapted to the lush tropical vegetation and the needs of the prevailing climate, so that the simple, clear-cut building enters into a close, symbiotic relationship with its surroundings. Only the cut-out corner with the main entrance breaks with its otherwise calm form. The covered space in front of the entrances remains undeveloped and welcomes arriving customers, visitors and employees. It is designed as a slightly raised platform from where the view falls back over the surrounding greenery. The white roof is raised slightly towards the corner. This welcoming gesture is intended to demonstrate the openness and transparency of the land. The existing structure has been largely retained, with targeted, almost homeopathic interventions, giving the building a new face and generating the desired 20 per cent more usable space. In Singapore, where buildings are usually demolished and rebuilt after a short period of use, this form of rethinking an existing building is a pioneering approach, significantly reducing the CO2 footprint that a new construction would have created.

Sonnenberg swimming pool – oasis in the making

The Sonnenberg swimming pool in Engelberg promises a green retreat with a breathtaking view. In order to gain as much green space as possible, the original course of the terrain will be restored, Berrel explains. “The new replacement building complements the natural topography in this overgrown basin. The outdoor pool seems to extend into the sky and the sunbathing lawns of the pool merge with the rising pastures.”

As soon as you arrive at the entrance hall, you have a view along the entire length of the indoor pool towards the greenery. Upwards, the view of the sky and mountains beckons through the skylights.

Sonnenberg Swimming Pool, Engelberg: Interior view. Rendering: maaars

Rethinking the future

“Since we specialise in large-scale buildings, we have an extensive number of public clients, such as the federal government, the canton and the city,” explains Berrel. “Our private clients, meanwhile, attach great importance to architectural and structural quality and are often looking for a solution to complex tasks.” The architects’ declared goal is to work together with their clients with mutual respect and trust, to develop a project that will ideally last a lifetime.

The architects’ current focus is increasingly on residential and hybrid projects that combine different uses in one building and could be a contemporary response to the necessary densification of the city: “Combining living, working and recreation spaces in one building creates an entire village within a building complex. The increase in population is forcing us to rethink our familiar living spaces and to draw new qualities from them.”