Wallpaper 5

public under one roof is going to change how we think

about these relationships in the future.’

The new facility will enable Swarovski to fast-track

product development and collaboration with clients,

allowing them to come up with product concepts and

deliver them in a quarter of the time it would have

taken in the past. ‘It’s a very holistic A-Z set-up, where

people can see what happens in other departments,’

explains Langes-Swarovski. Considering it is a factory,

it is indeed a surprisingly human-centric space. ‘We are

not trying to use humans as machines. Machines can

do that job much better now. So we wanted to build a

context in which the human can become human again.’

The open design of the building will allow a ‘much

higher hit rate for coincidences’, says Langes-Swarovski.

‘The architecture is forcing this kind of collaboration

more than before. I’m really excited about what kind

of things will happen in there.’

It is possible that in the not too distant future,

the campus will become a stage for productions of

an altogether diferent sort, engaging not just local

but wider communities, too. ‘In keeping with gently

opening up the company culture, we could think

about opening it to the public 50 times per year,’

moots Langes-Swarovski. ‘Just with a small number

of people – nothing dramatic.’ As we wait for his

plans to crystallise, there’s no doubting Wattens is

increasing its cultural clout. Henrietta Thompson

LANGES-SWAROVSKI AND

TRÆDAL THORSEN ON THE

MANUFAKTUR STAIRCASE

(ABOVE). THE NEW BUILDING

(BELOW) IS LINKED TO

CAMPUS 311 BY A FOOTBRIDGE

With its sweeping central staircase, a Snøhetta
hallmark, suspended loors and angular viewing
platforms, the Manufaktur building has been designed
in a way that will encourage its occupants to expand
their view both literally and philosophically. Flooded
with natural light, thanks to its innovative open ceiling
structure, and with expansive loors housing much
of the machinery, the space is energising and elegant –
a long way from the traditional industrial shop loor.
The vision, according to the Swarovski Group
chairman Markus Langes-Swarovski, was to design the
crystal workshop of the future. ‘The Manufaktur
is a totally new typology,’ he says. ‘It’s a manufacturing
facility, a showroom, a co-working space, a cathedral.
Not because it’s a place of worship, but because when
you’re in that building, it has a scale which I think
creates a lot of humbleness in relation to the body,
and yet, also, intimacy.’
The brief for the building, which is linked by a
new footbridge to Campus 311, was to create a customer
collaboration and co-creation centre that will see
Swarovski’s clients, including major fashion houses,
work directly with the product development teams.
It fell naturally to long-time collaborator Snøhetta.
The architecture practice, best known for the Oslo
Opera House and Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina,
also designed Swarovski’s Kristallwelten, a tourist
destination that has become one of Austria’s most
popular attractions since it opened in 1995.
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Snøhetta founding partner,
is passionate about the new project’s potential. ‘It really
is setting a new standard for inclusive fabrication
facilities,’ he says. ‘Bringing clients, designers, artists,
researchers, machine operators, technicians and the

IN DETAIL
CEILING
AN INNOVATIVE OPEN CEILING
STRUCTURE FLOODS THE
SPACE WITH NATURAL LIGHT
EXPANSION
SWAROVSKI WILL INVEST
€100M IN THREE KEY
NEW BUILDINGS AT ITS
WATTENS BASE BY 2020

LIGHTING

LIGHT DESIGN IS BY

SALLY STOREY

WEBSITES

SNOHETTA.COM;

SWAROVSKI.COM

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Architecture