Wiel Arets Architects

Allianz Headquarters

Allianz Headquarters

Wiel Arets Architects

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

ARCHITECTS
Wiel Arets Architects

PHOTOGRAPHS
jan Bitter

CONSULTANT
GKP Fassadentechnik AG, R+B Engineering AG, Ahochn AG, Jäger Partner Bauingenieure AG, GRP Ingenieure, Kardorff Ingenieure

COLLABORATORS
Flavio Loretz, Jörg Lüthke, Ruth Val Garijo, Virginia Angell, Anira Niso, Angela Tsang, Mikal Switalsky, Jacques van Eyck, Maron Vondeling, Christina Lotzemer Jentges, Joost Körver, Ilze Paklone, Alexandra Dobrowowolska, Boris van Eijsden, Joris Lens, Thomas Misik, Lucia Miglio, Hannes Scheutz, Dunia Nedjar, Francois Steul, Alexis Bikos, Athanasia Karaioannoglou, Victor Hidajat, Aline Amore, Birgit Schwarz, Tieme Zwartbol, Boris Wolf, Chris Frodsham, Alessandra Ferrari, Marcos Romero

AREA
72000.0 m²

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Wallisellen, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Office Buildings

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

Text description provided by architect.

The Allianz Headquarters is a hybrid-office and the pinnacle of a master planned mixed-use district on the edge of Zürich’s city center.

Comprised of a 20-story tower and a 5-story annex, these two components are externally linked by a series of four bridges, and vertically linked by numerous interior voids and staircases; as such, the Allianz Headquarters can be experienced as horizontal and vertical landscape of neighborhoods.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

Fluidly connected to the city center by a multitude of public transportation options, the building encourages the blossoming of twenty-first century office culture, which demands flexibility in space and its use, via its hyper-hybrid programming that amplifies ‘interiority’.

The entire lobby and ground floor are publicly accessible, ensuring a continuous animation throughout both, which compliments the adjacent public square.

A central staircase rises from the lobby up and into the 20-story tower, allowing employees to, if desired, meander throughout all levels of the office without entering its core.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

A café and restaurant are located on the fifth floor, rather than within the lobby, which creates a buffer zone between public and non-public areas.

A ‘business center’ is located one floor below, and contains meeting rooms for use with external clients. This ‘business center’ enables employees to meet with their guests, without the need for elevators.

This new district’s master plan mandated that all building façades be composed of natural stone, yet it was chosen to frit this building’s full glass façade with an abstracted pattern of Onyx marble–from Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion–which allows the building to blend into its context while simultaneously maintaining its distinguished stance.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

Each element of the façade contains a closed cavity system, in which an aluminum coated silver curtain hangs, which fluctuates its degree of shading by responding to external environmental factors–a process administered by a computer controlled algorithm.

Interior heating and cooling occurs through a paneled ceiling system that utilizes concrete core activation and concealed air ventilation.

These 1.35 x 1.35 m panels are composed of ‘crumpled’ steel sheets into which a three-dimensional pattern, derived from traditional ornamentation of Swiss chalet eave, has been stamped, which introduces a larger scale to the interior office spaces by decreasing the amount of visible ceiling seams.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

Micro-perforations in the panels maintain ventilation, allowing for no visible interior air ducts and the placement of an acoustically absorbing sheet on the back of each.

Inhabitable volumes adorn the roof of the lower building, with several garden terraces for employees.

These gardens contain a singular red Japanese maple tree, which return in the landscaping of the central courtyard below.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter

Both the 20-story tower and 5-story annex are adjoined underground by a tri-level 300 car parking garage, where most of the extensive IT and mechanical facilities are stored.

Similar to a home, the Allianz Headquarters has been infused with espresso corners and lounge like spaces throughout, for instance, its four 8m wide bridges, to stimulate informal conversation within this highly formal working environment.

Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter


Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter


Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter


Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter


Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter
Allianz Headquarters
© Jan Bitter


Allianz Headquarters
Site Plan


Allianz Headquarters
Ground Floor Plan
Allianz Headquarters
Third Floor Plan
Allianz Headquarters
Roof Floor Plan
Allianz Headquarters
Eighth Floor Plan


Allianz Headquarters
Section
Allianz Headquarters
Section
Allianz Headquarters
Elevation

Wiel Arets Architects
T +31 20 5776000
Wiel Arets Architects
De Lairessestraat 41, 1071 NS Amsterdam, Netherlands