Description

The ABB Power Tower is situated near the new railway station district Innenstadt Nord of Baden (Switzerland). In this new quarter, working and living are brought together. The ABB Utility Automation AG develops and produces control technology for energy systems.

The so-called Power Tower is actually not a tower but a large engineering hub with a neatly organised comb structure housing the development and production sections of this ABB key account. Appropriate and functional workplaces for more than 800 engineers are provided here.

The combination of offices and a factory was the main conceptual idea for the building. Numerous different functions like training, product development, assembly, quality control as well as administration and a staff restaurant had to be accommodated under one roof. Also, the various areas for the development of switching systems, production, assembly, and the training rooms were to be positioned within the building in close association to each other. All spaces have been designed as halls, which are neutral units independent of their respective functions.

The building is a configuration of associated spaces that are horizontally and vertically linked with each other. Slight bends and rotations of the individual “comb teeth” create three courtyards with different characteristics. A large atrium forms a junction in the building through which development and research areas are connected. The vertical connection is supplemented by a production plant, which acts as a structural base tying the individual design and research areas together.

The comb structure has a fully glazed envelope, while the connections between the comb teeth are made of double-skinned exposed concrete. Ribbed cast glass in combination with solar blinds emphasizes the horizontal character of the building.

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Originally published in: Jürgen Adam, Katharina Hausmann, Frank Jüttner, Industrial Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2004.