MIPIM Awards 2015

The headquarters of Würth Sverige lives up to its location as an iconic gateway building to the city of Örebro in the heart of Sweden. The building is home to a highly efficient automated warehouse system, a shop and the headquarters for office workers. The building merges the vernacular colour of Falu red which is embedded in Swedish culture with the colours of Würth. Falu red adorns many of the vernacular buildings in Sweden and seen here in a new contemporary context.

The building is optimally placed for logistics as it is situated on a major intersection of infrastructure known as “the bulls eye”. It is the logistic centre of Sweden where two major national roads meet. This location allows for a highly efficient distribution to the whole of Sweden backed up by a semi-automated warehousing system that ensures reliability and speed. The building’s details and form respond to the noisy location by curving around and shielding the entrance area to create an acoustically sheltered plaza.

The layout of the building embodies the company’s business plan by breaking down potential hierarchy barriers through a common social meeting hub for visitors, warehouse workers and office workers alike. This is the second floor of the building and it houses space for informal meetings, conferences, education spaces, a restaurant and relaxation areas. It is the living room and social heart of the company where all can put their feet up, meet and interact.

The core volume is wrapped by a series of louvres with integrated red lighting. This element of the building speaks the high-speed language of the traffic flowing past and streams of red car lights at dusk. It is one of the most recognisable elements of the building. The louvres also act as a protective layer and shield the office spaces from increased solar gains which reduces the need for artificial cooling. The louvres reflect and dampen the high noise levels emitted by the motorways, dramatically reducing the noise experienced inside the building envelope.

The building is designed to create optimum people flows and integration across departments. It is also home to a state of the art automated warehousing and picking system. This picking system enables Würth to deliver 98% of their goods within 24 hours. The rational warehouse volume is lit with north facing windows reducing the need for artificial lighting. The roof is also covered in efficient solar panels that provide heat for the buildings year-round.

A small park of Birch trees was planted next to the building to reduce noise levels but also to absorb run-off ground water from the site. The building has a high level of internal comfort creating good working environments for all departments. The building is constructed with a flexible structure that is open to possible changes in the future ensuring longevity of the structure and changes in requirements. The building is placed in the centre of Sweden reducing distances needing to be travelled by vehicles to distribute goods.

The project goes beyond the primary task to make a communicative building in a highly visible location. It helps to reduce the company’s carbon emissions through being logistically well placed and an efficient warehousing system. It also creates a socially healthier working environment and dissolves boundaries between departments and hierarchy’s.