overview of the project
construction volume: 310’900 cubic meters
total floor area: 51’500 square meters
distribution center, storage, mass-production bakery and confectionery,
administration, garage with repair facility, washing bay and fueling
stations
situation
out in the open countryside in the small village of aclens (close to morges in the lake leman region to the west of lausanne) coop is in the process of setting up a new distribution centre. the building is planned to fulfil a variety of functions. mühlemann + partner was awarded the job along with another contracting firm (losinger construction sa).
solution
the issued guidelines
regarding the intended utilization of
the building indicate a massive construction volume, especially for
such a small village. another problem was the composition of the
substratum. the entire construction had to be built on stilts.
logistics and storage facilities form the core of the building.
accordingly, allowing rapid and efficient movement of goods was a main
objective. delivery takes place by truck or railway. When planning the
loading docks, emphasis was put upon optimizing the workflow.
flexibility is the central feature of the industrial sized bakery and
confectionery. only small structural measures would have to be taken to
adapt to changing requirements.
the architects designed bright, functional rooms in the administration
centre to provide an optimal working environment.
the main difficulty while planning coop’s new distribution
center was the combination of industrial production, business
enterprise, logistics and administration. our task force could fall
back on years of experience in working on the respective areas but also
on other buildings with similar usage characteristics.
The great challenge consisted in finding a satisfactory architectural
solution that met all requirements, absorbed the mere size of the
project, remained within the proposed budget and could be done within
the given time.
an elegant steel structure and lots of glass were used to give the
construction a certain lightness and to break down the massive
construction into sections. the result was a functional, cost-effective
, but also architecturally appealing building.
