Entfaltung der reinen Struktur: Bürogebäude im St.Galler Stickereiquartier von Corinna Menn und Mark Ammann.

The new building fills a gap in an area known as the Stickereiquartier in St. Gallen. It takes its place in a protected ensemble and augments a fragmentary block, takes up the eaves height of its neighbour and, adopting the standard approach found in this district, it deals with the change in level between street and courtyard by means of a sunken area and bridge access. However, the loadbearing and spatial structure of the building is presented in a strongly expressive way. Five office floors free from columns extend between two concrete cores, the folded concrete ceiling slabs span 14 metres between the long facades. The building services run in the raised floors, all insertions follow the constraints of the primary structure. The building's innovative structural concept relates to the pioneering spirit of the “Stickereipaläste" (embroidery palaces), which were built here from the end of the 19th century onwards. The brick facade, however, dispenses with any form of representative gestures and depicts the load-bearing structure behind it as well as the logic of its own construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le nouveau bätiment comble un espace vide dans le quartier de la broderie ä St-Gall et se positionne en tant q ü element urbain tranquille dans cette zone protegee. II reprend la hauteur de gouttiere de ses voisins et tient compte de Fecart de niveau entre la route et la cour par un fosse et une passerelle, conformement aux usages du quartier. Le Systeme porteur et la structure spatiale par contre sont mis en scene de maniere tres expressive. Cinq etages de bureaux se deploient sans aucun point d'appui entre deux coeurs de beton. Leurs plafonds plisses en beton s'etendent sur une distance de 14 metres entre les faqades longitudinales. La geometrie et la surface visible de cet ouvrage plisse dominent l'espace. Les installations sont rangees dans des faux planchers et tous les encastrements se subordonnent ä la structure primaire. La structure statique innovante de la construction s'inscrit dans la continuite de l'esprit pionnier des «palais de la broderie», qui ont ete construit ici des la fin du 19c siede. Mais sa facade en briques renonce ä leurs gestes representatifs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]