Architects:haascookzemmrich STUDIO 2050

Area:7560m²

Year:2022

Photographs:Markus Guhl Architekturfotografie

Contractors:Gebr. Filgis GmbH & Co. KG

Structural Engineering:Ecoplan Ing.

Building Physics:umt Umweltingenieure

Energy Concept:Transsolar

Electrical Engineering:g+h projektplan

Responsible Partner:Martin Haas

Project Leader:Sinan Tiryaki, Lisa Ruiu

Interior Architect:Lena Lang

Facade And Details:Yohei Kawasaki

Planing Team:Katharina Hoppenstedt, Xun Li, Felix Wolf

Tender And Award:Ariane Prevedel

Program / Use / Building Function:Visitor Centre with Coffee Roastery, Bakery, Exhibition Space, Grocery Store and some small office spaces as well as Conference rooms that can be used for seminars etc.

Fire Protection Consultant:Tichelmann&Barillas

Exhibition Concept:Atelier Markgraph

City:Legau

Country:Germany

Text description provided by the architects. After three years of construction, a visitor center has emerged as a walk-in building sculpture on the premises of Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH in Legau. The new visitor center is designed to be public and inviting and is intended to make Rapunzel's leitmotif "We make organic out of love" tangible for visitors. A house is full of discoveries that invite guests to linger and participate in varied and emotional imparting of knowledge.

The address-forming building sculpture welcomes every visitor from afar through the northern high point - the Rapunzel Tower. The fairytale garden surrounds the house and extends to the roof. An open and invitingly accessible sculpture where at the end the crow's nest allows a view of the landscape.

The gesture is accompanied by the large, floating roof that spans everything and wraps itself around the visitor center like a band, but does not limit inside and outside views.

The new Rapunzel World makes the leitmotif of the company tangible with all senses. In the exhibition, visitors can learn interesting facts about cultivation, fair trade, and production as well as sustainable living at interactive stations. The coffee roastery is designed in such a way that you can watch the roasting and processing, including the beautiful smell of the coffee. Rapunzel's braid in the form of a large, spiral wooden staircase connects all floors from the wine cellar to the exhibition and the roof terrace with its wonderful all-around view. In addition to the bakery and the organic market, there are many other rooms to discover for training courses, yoga, and other activities. The playfully designed fairytale garden leads to the tropical house, where you can watch the coffee plants grow.

Of which of the two equal entrances the visitor enters the building from, he is received and distributed via the center. The glazed interior partitions allow generous insights into the coffee roastery and the bakery. The inviting spiral staircase sculpture connects the ground floor with the gallery above.

Natural and renewable building materials such as wood and clay were used and the building services were reduced to a necessary minimum. No styrofoam was used for the insulation and the subfloor, but recycled foam glass gravel was. All materials, colors, and coatings are mineral and ecologically carefully selected.

Daylight is used in the visitor center and mechanical air conditioning is largely dispensed with. Here we used what nature provides us as a microclimate on site to build a robust and durable house that works with nature and not against nature. All the craft businesses involved in the construction of the Rapunzel World are located in the immediate vicinity of Legau. Only for the Rapunzel staircase and the finely enrobed bricks, we had to resort to more distant partners, as the brick kilns in Switzerland still had old kilns that allowed a special type of engobe.

The building not only strengthens the region but also helps the environment by avoiding emissions and resource consumption in transport.

Project gallery

Project location

Address:Legau, Germany