Text description provided by the architects. The Danish international beer-brewing firm, Carlsberg, has decided to set up its International Innovation Center in Obernai, France, on the site of its subsidiary company Kronenbourg, the major French brewery. The aim of the building is to create and develop all the beers of the group for the French and the international market.
The new building is facing the 501 road leading to Obernai at the entrance of the industrial site. It is representative of the Carlsberg Group and the Kronenbourg site. The idea was to create a spectacular building that reflects the innovation of the activity of research and development it shelters.
The site is constraining and the program significant. The new parking for the administration building and the rest of the industrial site are located to the North. The water treatment factory is located to the East with a huge underground pipe network. The project sets in according to the site characteristics and the program.
The new building is facing the 501 road leading to Obernai at the entrance of the industrial site. It is representative of the Carlsberg Group and the Kronenbourg site. The idea was to create a spectacular building that reflects the innovation of the activity of research and development it shelters.
The site is constraining and the program significant. The new parking for the administration building and the rest of the industrial site are located to the North. The water treatment factory is located to the East with a huge underground pipe network. The project sets in according to the site characteristics and the program.
The offices and laboratories are widely glazed and benefit from a good natural light. Vertical timber slats are built in front of the facades to create a visual and solar filter. The lower parts of the slats are raised to allow the entrances and exits of the building. The upper parts of the slats are waving to remind the Carlsberg logo.
The tapered box indicates the main entrance of the building very clearly. It contains a major function of the Centre: the beer tasting room.
The main ingredients used for the beer processing are represented around the building.
A pond filled with water creates mirroring effects and animates the pedestrian way towards the entrance. Patches of hop cover the north facades creating a visual filter between the laboratories and the parking. Finally, a monumental barley field is printed on the facade facing the road.
