Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.
Rheinschanze 6
4056 Basel, Switzerland
Email: info@herzogdemeuron.com
Phone: +41 61 385 5757
Basel, Switzerland
The St. Jakob Tower scheme provides its setting with a vibrant urbanistic focus. In the manner of a “gateway building” it marks a key entrance point into Basel and is particularly eye-catching for drivers on the nearby motorway. The new Mercedes-Benz Showroom slots easily into the urban terrain between the St. Jakob sports and events venue and the Birs river.
The Mercedes-Benz facility is designed as an open, transparent structure, whose walls and roof slab grow out of the platform. The showroom spaces for new and second-hand cars span three levels linked by ramps.
The elevated platform (6.10 meters above the stadium perimeter level), like the existing facility, is a key pedestrian circulation hub – a place to see and be seen – while also doubling up as a venue for future events. Located on the eastern front (looking towards Muttenz), it is modeled as an artificial topography marking off the sports and visitor facilities while also creating a smooth transition to the revitalized Birs riverside pathway.
The tower’s massing responds to the particular features of the site, the occupancy types, visual axes and shading requirements. The building houses apartments mainly on the southern elevation and upper tower levels, coupled with offices on the northern elevation. The tower reads as a crystalline glass volume with openings for balconies to serve the apartments. For reasons of noise control (motorway and railway lines), the northern elevation is designed as a blank, unbroken façade with no balconies.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2008
Luis Fernández-Galiano (Ed.): “Arquitectura Viva MonografĂas. Herzog & de Meuron 2005-2013.” Vol. No. 157/158, Madrid, Arquitectura Viva SL, 09.2012.
Fernando Márquez Cecilia; Richard Levene (Eds.): “El Croquis. Herzog & de Meuron 2005-2010. Programme, Monument, Landscape. Programa, Monumento, Paisaje.” Vol. No. 152/153, Madrid, El Croquis, 2010.
Hubertus Adam: “Gedrungener Kristall. Wohn-und Bürogebäude in Basel (CH).” In: Katja Kohlhammer (Ed.). “Deutsche Bauzeitung. Zeitschrift für Architekten und Bauingenieure.” Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Konradin Medien GmbH, 11.2009. pp. 24-29.
Hubertus Adam: “Aktuelles von Herzog & de Meuron. Häuser und Türme.” In: “Archithese. Internationale Zeitschrift und Schriftenreihe für Architektur.” Sulgen, Niggli, 01.2007. pp. 78-83.