Atelier Martin Auer, Graz, Austria

The project

The Martin Auer Bakery grew to large for their original building, where they have been baked for around 675 years. The aim of the new headquarters, which was built at the entrance to the city, was to be able to bake during the day and to provide an authentic insight into the work of the bakers. In addition, according to the responsible architect Markus Katzenberger, it was very important to Mr. Auer to make the craftsmanship tangible and to convey the character of a manufactory to the outside world.

Implementation

The new building of 6,500 m² offers enough space for a new flagship store with a café, its own grain mill, a coffee roasting machine as well as offices and an employee academy. The heart of the building is the functional and fully visible bakery, which shapes the raw overall atmosphere of the design. The massive and robust street view resulting from the use of precast concrete elements is counteracted from the outside by generous window elements. The concrete surfaces are complemented by wooden surfaces and greenery, which were deliberately used in the courtyard and interior spaces.

The textured matrix

Sandwich panels with a concrete textured facade were used as the outer skin. For this purpose, our formliner 1/45 B Sicilia from the RECKLI SELECT series was used over 2,000 m². With its strong vertical texture and the medium-coarse fracture texture, it reproduces the structural system on the facade as authentically as possible, creates an interesting play of shadows that changes again and again throughout the day - and supports the striking, urban appearance of the new building.