Competition entry w/ Ciriacidis Lehnerer Architects in 2014, 2nd price.
The new building near the former St. Johann freight yard combines the programs of Basel’s Natural History Museum (NMB) and State Archives (StABS). Positioned between the tracks and the residential street Entenweidstrasse, the building volume is oriented in both directions.
To the north it directly connects with the Luzernerring bridge; its height at this point signaling the conclusion of the street, and setting a vertical, urban accent visible down Hüningerstrasse. Simultaneously, the tower underscores the building’s orientation to Vogesenplatz, an important public space and transportation hub for citywide and regional public transit with both a street car stop and S-Bahn station.
To ensure synergy between the two uses of the StABS and the NMB while also preserving and expressing their individual identities, the volumetric composition of both programs are handled contrary to one another. The museum expands upward and outwards, its cantilevered spaces continuing the initial gesture of the entrance situation and space-defining dual-sided access system. In contrast, the state archives are defined by a dominant ground floor incorporating public reading rooms with setbacks above and toward the rear.
The opposite nature of both forms contrasts at the entrance where they intersect. However, the use of brickwork throughout, as well as the expressive constructive features of the ribbed slabs, remains visible on the exterior of the entire building. Thus, the question of whether the volume composed of one or two buildings is answered differently depending on the floor and without neutralizing the similarities and differences of the two separate programs. What arises is a certain differentiated coherence in the expression of the StABS and the NMB.
CLIENT: City of Basel
SIZE: 34,100 m2
TEAM: Savvas Ciriacidis, Alex Lehnerer, Lorenzo Stieger, Jared Macken, Alessandro Bosshard, Attila Acs, Carolin Lehnerer, Yoichi Iwamoto
PARTNERS: Projektmanagement: B+P Baurealisation AG, Zürich Technical planners and specialists: Ingenieri Pedrazzini Guigotti Sagl, Lugano Haerter & Partner AG, Zürich BAKUS Bauphysik und Akustik GmbH, Zürich AFC Air Flow Consulting AG, Zürich