Description

The new factory in Wattens, Austria, the company’s headquarters, functions as a mix of showroom, workshop and experimental facility. Designed by the Innsbruck office of Snøhetta, it serves as a creative hub, creating an environment in which designers, interior designers and other customers can draw inspiration while jointly developing prototypical crystalline products. In the past, product prototypes could take up to four weeks to produce; today, thanks to the integral production facilities, it takes just a few days. Access to the facility is restricted to employees and Swarovski’s business customers.

The general public can visit the neighbouring Swarovski Crystal Worlds, a green hilly theme park, also designed by Snøhetta. The tour begins at the entrance to “Campus 311”, an old, recently renovated factory hall with offices. This industrial block fronts the production facilities so that the new building has no visible façade from outside. From here a bridge leads to the mezzanine level of the new atelier from which an expansive view of the white industrial hall spreads out before one’s eyes. The mezzanine level and the floor on the ground floor are lined with birch wood panels, lending the entire production facility a light and warm atmosphere. The pipes of the in-house water treatment system run beneath the floor on the ground floor, and individual panels can be lifted out of the mountings as necessary without the need for special equipment.

The atmosphere of the space is provided by diffuse light from above, filtered by 135 “cassettes” in the roof. The correct level of light – well-illuminated but not too bright – is important to allow the crystals to truly sparkle. The building services are concealed within the deep steel webs of the ceiling cassettes.

The expansive, opera-like view from the gallery of the spectacle of the production facilities and staff at work is broken by a broad flight of steps with integral seating which leads from the gallery level to the ground floor at one corner. Here the working areas on the ground and upper floors transition into one another with only individual wall planes and glazed sections dividing off the quieter meeting rooms and exhibition spaces. With the exception of individual set pieces, Snøhetta has designed a calm, sober building designed for the crystal manufacturer. It refrains from alluding to crystalline forms and in overplaying the use of shiny surfaces. As such, the building is unobtrusive but leaves a lasting impression – a business environment perfectly in tune with the company branding.

Originally published in Bauwelt 09.2019, pp. 50-55, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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