Peter Lacke is a family-owned company with a total of 13 locations worldwide. The company produces paints and coatings for industrial use. Due to continuous growth, the capacity limits in the laboratories, application technology, and administration departments had been reached, making it necessary to construct a new, modern office and laboratory building at the company's location in Hiddenhausen. Located directly on a federal highway, it is clearly visible from public spaces. Not least for this reason, the decision was made to hold an architectural competition, which our office won.
The various functional areas are spread over two buildings: a four-story office building and a two-story laboratory building, which are connected by two bridges. Due to the steep slope, the ground floor on the west side disappears completely into the ground. The first floor is level with the existing company premises. Visitors and administrative staff enter the complex via the main entrance at the eastern end of the office building. There is a separate entrance for laboratory staff.
The administrative workplaces are organized on three levels in open-plan offices. On each floor, desk-sharing spaces, kitchenettes, and lounge areas facilitate interactive and collaborative work and offer highly attractive working environments. In addition to areas for interactive communication, centrally located closed meeting rooms on each floor enable acoustically shielded meetings.
In the laboratory building, a centrally located atrium provides all laboratory workstations with natural light. The spray booths are located at the rear, with the associated technology located directly above them on a separate technical floor. The ground floor is set back from the federal highway. This creates a covered outdoor space that is occupied by a water basin. This offers attractive views from the design laboratory and staff canteen adjacent to the building.