The Weinwelt is located at the interface between industrial belt and the recently extended residential zone in the north of Buchs. Elementary terracotta-coated volumes assemble like exquisite boxes of wine into a fascinating residential and office building. It mediates the urban situation and with regard to the content. Concept and realization extend beyond the initial needs of the client. To combine both office and storage spaces in order to minimize the logistic friction loss was required. The communal premise of an urban redensification resulted in a demanded utilisation number of 1.0 and a minimum height of 12 meters. Architects as well as the client took the obligation as an occasion to developed a hybrid type for a compelling mix of uses: a world for living, working and enjoyment with a sense of community. The different purposes subordinate delicately from the original idea of wine culture: 15 wine boxes within a height of two floors staple to a symbiotic structured organism. When entering the salesroom with the attached multifunctional event room and storage, one gets surrounded by the gravity of the concrete. This heaviness is combined with silence. Between unobtrusive and dimmable luminous elements, circular acoustic parts cushion the reverberation time. Round glass components lead the view to the vast high-rise rack. A chapel of wine is the core of the building. In the high of a fully enclosed room the dimension of the boxes gets evident and every wine lover’s heart will beat faster.
On the first floor the transparent and bright designed offices are located. An inserted noble conference room immerse the visitor into the Weinwelt and embodies the client’s passion and attention. The last two upper floors are universal spaces for various service providers. Six apartments, directed to the residential zone, are located in the second uprising cube. All have loggias, four of them provide a mountain panorama view. The greenery in between the rooftops reacts in terms of colour on the module measurements.
Architects in charge: Carlos Martinez, Matthias Waibel