As precise as clockwork
Every tiny screw in its place, every little cog perfectly set in position, the inner workings precisely balanced, finished and engraved: There is probably no craft that is more precise than watchmaking. And like in small scale, the renowned watch manufactory, A. Lange & Söhne in the Saxony town of Glashütte, goes about things the same way on a large scale: when it came to constructing a new production building, the team of architects from jessenvollenweider applied the same quality, attention to detail and restrained elegance that also distinguish the luxury watches made by the traditional company.
A watch fulfils one purpose above all, but does so as well as possible. It may also be attractive at the same time, of course. It seems almost as if the Swiss teams of architects around Anna Jessen and Ingemar Vollenweider were guided precisely by these basic principles when it came to planning an extension for the legendary watch manufacturer, A. Lange & Söhne. After all, watchmaking runs in the blood of the Swiss to some extent. The small town of Glashütte in the Ore Mountains in Germany also developed into the centre for watchmaking since Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded the first watch manufactory there in 1845.
LIGHT AND DUST-FREE
Just like a watch, the new building also fulfils one purpose now. Thanks to its north-east alignment, it provides what is so important for precision craftsmanship: Dust-free, deliberately dazzle-free workplaces that do not suffer from severe temperature fluctuations.
The generous windows, which shape the image of the factory building, are arranged in a proper grid pattern. They make the building to appear calm, stable and safe. Delicate lines cover the whitish shimmering exposed concrete facade and make for a plastic, finely structured appearance. The building features special, oversized wood aluminium window designs by the Berlin window making company, Hans Timm Fensterbau. Like the watch manufactory, Timm is also a renowned and widely known traditional company, which is always only satisfied with the best. On the inside, the wood aluminium windows made of pine were therefore coated with ADLER Acryl-Fensterlack in a white NCS colour and thus contribute perfectly to the light, friendly atmosphere of the workplaces, which visitors can see from a gangway set in front of the workshop.
For the future
The overall image now emits a simple restraint and harmonious interaction with the two existing buildings – a glazed bridge connects the traditional and the modern here in the truest sense of the word. The industrial facility now looks like a continuation of the centuries-old traditional craftsmanship: not ostentatious, arrogant and fashionable, but just as you would like a watch manufactory to be – timeless!!
© by adler-lacke.com