Oppenheim Architecture

Muttenz Water Purification Plant

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler

MUTTENZ WATER PURIFICATION PLANT

Oppenheim Architecture

PRINCIPALS IN CHARGE
Chad Oppenheim, Beat Huesler

PROJECT MANAGER
Frederic Borruat

STRUCTURE CONSULTANT
WMMEngineersAG

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Erne Ag

INTERIOR DESIGNER
Oppenheim Architecture + Design

PROJECT CONTRIBUTERS
Aleksandra Melion, Tom Mckeog

GENERAL PLANNER
CSD Ingénieurs

SHOTCRETE CONSULTANT
GreuterAG

PHOTOGRAPHS
Borje Müller, Aaron Kohler, Rasem Kamal

AREA
1850 m²

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Muttenz, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Industrial Architecture

Text description provided by architect.

The City of Muttenz, Switzerland has commissioned Oppenheim Architecture Europe to design the city’s new municipal water purification plant.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller

The plant is a model of sustainability, extremely sensitive to its contrasting setting near the Rhine riverfront.

Settled between the protected forest and the nearby industrial parks, the project exhibits an educational area to explain the complex purification process in such a stressed environment.

The unique and important function of the drinking water treatment plant is to create a new landmark for the town of Muttenz and the Basel area.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Rasem Kamal
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Rasem Kamal

The role of the architecture is to link the state-of-the-art technology with the natural ecosystem and to emphasize the importance of the purification process.

The building sits inside a lush green forest next to the river Rhine.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler

This contrasting context - the natural and the industrial - is expressed in the architectural concept.

The drinking water purification plant houses a state of the art, 3-phased process, which will ensure the highest quality of water for the citizen of Muttenz.

The engineering driven arrangement of the interior defines the form and the size of the building.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller

Like a tight dress, the skin presses against it and reflects the technical inner life to the outside.

Pipelines, filters, and apparatuses can be read through the façade in an abstract manner., The result is an expressive building, acting like an ‘objet trouvé’ in its natural context, reduced to its materiality and form.

A public area allows the population to appreciate the complex process and to celebrate water with all their senses.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Rasem Kamal
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Rasem Kamal
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Rasem Kamal

The desired pedagogical effectiveness is achieved through a spatial narrative that provides precise guidance through the different building areas and process phases. 

A central open platform serves as a collection area and as a stage for the presentations.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller

The alcove-like room is pure, open to the outside and sits on a pool of water, reflecting the daylight and collecting the rainwater pouring in from the roof.

Depending on the time and season, the space can be moist, cold and mystical. Water can be experienced with all of the senses.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller

The opposites of the context are playfully implemented in the façade material – soft in expression, crude and hard in its texture. Shotcrete mixed with local clay creates the striking façade on all sides and the roof, and it is treated in a way to allow a porous texture.

Rainwater flows from the roof over the façade, leaving a patina and allowing moss growth, continuously changing the appearance of the plant and merging the façade with its context.

Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller

The building is in constant dialogue with the landscape - built with nature, not on top of nature.


Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Borje Müller
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
© Aaron Kohler


Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Section A
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Section B


Muttenz Water Purification Plant
North Facade
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
South Facade
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
East Facade
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
West Facade


Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Ground Floor Plan
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Upper Floor Plan


Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Diagram
Muttenz Water Purification Plant
Context Plan

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