The new Sky-Frame window company headquarters building is located the middle of the Thur plain, on the outskirts of Frauenfeld. A brise soleil protects the south side of the building from direct sunlight. Generous “slats”, or long trays, extend across the entire façade and create a uniform horizontal image. The south side is the arrival side of the building, with the building entrance, visitors’ car park and the entrance to the underground garage all on this side. The brise soleil thus creates the main impression as one approaches the building. From the inside, the view is framed; the planted trays form the foreground of the view to the outside.
The vegetation of the brise soleil sets a lovely, flowery accent. This stands in an exciting contrast to the industrial and rather hard surroundings. The planting of the long trays is diverse, so that the brise soleil is attractive in all seasons of the year. Grasses, perennials with structural outlines, and fine accent flowers together form meadow-like greenery. Light enters the building through the fine structure as through eyelashes, and the backlighting of the vegetation creates a charming picture. For the 13 long trays, arranged horizontally one above the other on the façade, two types of vegetation were developed. Four levels with a high percentage of flowering perennials set accents and divide the façade vertically. For these bands of colour, plants with striking habits and flowers in vibrant colours characterise the visual appearance. But the basic structure of the bands of meadows is created by six species of grasses, which form a finely varying curtain with their differing plant habits and leaf colours. Woven into the grasses are the delicate dots of the blossoms of perennials planted as companions. The firm, dry stalks and flower heads have high aesthetic value also in the wintertime, and in interplay with dew, fog and white frost they create a charming picture. In addition, in each tray there is a colourful mix of a variety of bulbs and tubers that provide the first spots of colour early in the year. These geophytes form the main aspect of the planting into the month of May, when they are succeeded by the perennials and grasses.
Client
Sky Frame, Frauenfeld
Project dates
Project planning 2013–2014
Execution 2014
Surface area
ca. 1`100m2
Architecture
Peter Kunz, Winterthur
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