Description

Nya Nordiska is an architectural and home textiles company located in Dannenberg on the Elbe. The company’s headquarters have been expanded significantly following an extensive renovation and extension of the existing facilities, among them the large reserve and coupon warehouse, the main building from 1997 and a renovated half-timbered house that was the original company headquarters. These are all located on the north side of the site reached by a driveway and entrance. After entering the main building, one finds oneself in a stairwell hall with a gallery. The new additions, like the existing building, testify to an appreciation of detail, and the architect Volker Staab has developed an ensemble of buildings for the southern part of the site that competently augments the existing functional organisation.
The design for the site in a historical small town that has evolved over time respects its small-scale urban structure by interlocking old and new in such a way that the space is utilised and revitalised. Unlike many companies that decide to start afresh on a greenfield site in an industrial estate, Nya Nordiska have opted to retain their historical headquarters and weave the new additions in between the existing buildings, contributing to the coherence of the neighbourhood. The results is an immediately comprehensible coexistence and functional interleaving of new and old.
The most striking feature of the new additions is the façade cladding of dark, warm red anodised and folded aluminium sheeting. The varying rhythm of the vertical lines in the folded segments of the façade – at times regular, at times in alternating patterns – make reference to the pleated fabrics that the company manufactures.
The ensemble of new buildings provides an additional 4100 m² and comprises six individual structures, including several shed-like structures with north-facing illumination. The roof covering is the same colour as the façades but is tucked so neatly behind the upper lip of the façades that it is barely visible from outside. The shed roofs have different angles depending on their use. Despite their small-scale appearance from outside, the building’s interiors are surprising spaciousness and have a continuous black-coloured flooring with a surfacing of polyurethane-coated screed.
Mediating between the heart of the new building and old half-timbered company headquarters is an inner courtyard paved with basalt cobbles, surrounded by offices and circulation areas on the ground and first floor. The suspended ceilings of the access routes with concealed strip lighting as edging follow the slopes of the roofs.
The street front of the half-timbered building with its four shop windows was retained and is picked up by the new building. Nya Nordiska now has a small outlet centre in the neighbouring new building. The forecourt adjoining the street provides space for a historical fountain, which the Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg once donated to the people of Dannenberg. The corner building with its hipped roof has been renovated and is used as offices and company administration.

Originally published in Bauwelt  46.2010, pp. 22-25, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

---