EMM Architekten (Hinterforst)

Sustainable in the family.

Patrick and Marco Fenk, the two sons, are gradually optimizing the flourishing company. A new building is therefore not intended to increase productivity, but to create space. For modern machines and minimal production paths. This is where the third and youngest son of the family comes in. Michael Fenk has chosen a different path: After training as a draftsman, he studied architecture. Today he works with Daniel Eggenberger in the Archraum office in Altstätten. It is obvious that the young architect should be brought on board. But only under one pragmatic condition: He waives his fee and has a free hand in the design. Because the new building should be more than just a hall. It should emphasize the family's work in its materialization. It should show that there are other possibilities besides the standardized, off-the-shelf solution. And this ambitious architecture does not have to be expensive.

The company has grown organically over the last century. The individual sheds and halls stand loosely below the Oberrütistrasse. Although the existing structure is neither architecturally nor economically convincing, it has never broken the village context. The new building will now expand the production area by more than 1,000 m 2 . A former pasture above the road serves as a construction site. The two new halls stand next to the road and the slope. The common concrete base absorbs the thrust of the hill. And at the same time unites them as an ensemble. An open work yard separates the southern, smaller hall from its northern, larger sibling. The large hall, 35 meters long, provides space for the new machinery. The smaller, square one is open on both sides and serves as a warehouse. Further growth is already planned. Due to the linear arrangement, the two can be joined together via the inner courtyard to form a single hall. The dimensions of the building are correct. The location on the slope also reduces their mass. Even as a single volume, they would not break the context.