herzog & de meuron: messe basel exhibition hall

first image
'messe basel hall' by herzog & de meuron, basel, switzerland
all images courtesy of MCH

the annual art basel exhibition held in june will now be hosted at local firm herzog & de meuron's new 'messe hall' that has taken the place of the two
original buildings. the main feature differentiating the new structure with the old is the city lounge concept, whereby the traditional courtyard is
turned inside out and offers a social space year-round, servicing the main entrances to the north and south foyer and revitalizing exhibition square with
a strong public component. three new halls (hall 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2) are stacked upon one another, protruding out over the street with their own distinct
formal character. the entire project was constructed in 22 months, split up into three phases: preliminary site work, main construction work, and
dismantling of previous halls and construction of the new halls.

the ground floor provides 10,000 square meters of space (10 meters tall) divided between hall 1.0 and the general event space - ideal for concerts, seminars
or banquets with up to 2,500 posts for seating -clad in an internally-facing glass facade and external fluid shell that responds to the flow of circulation and
human scale, an important factor as the majority of the traffic will be arriving from the tram stop directly in front of the city lounge area. a combination of
steel members and regularly spaced columns - on a grid of 26m x 16m - allow for medium-spans and a regular sequence of free space for maximum flexibility
in the organization of events. two light-filled transparent foyers receive guests and offer social areas between the third party commercial functions, including
restaurants and bars, as well as a 100-person MCH lounge for smaller and more private gatherings.

video © vernissage tv

metal skin on stacked halls

the next two halls are characterized by their abstracted expanded metal skins, with parametrically designed openings that seem almost to breathe as they
offer views of the city in very precise points. the top mass is slightly rotated from that of the bottom, respecting regulations that must consider zoning and
daylight to neighboring structures. the previously rectangular gallery has now transformed into somewhat of a square, which opens more possibilities in
the use of the space, but also responds more appropriately to the scale of the adjacent neighborhoods. the entire complex conforms to the latest ecological
standards, having received the highest energy certification and meets requirements for the SIA standards of lighting, ventilation, and air conditioning.
a new project is also underway to install an array of solar panels on the green roof.

transparent ground floor facade

entry by the city lounge

courtyard in the sky
image © iwan baan

entrance to the north foyer

courtyard in the sky

entrance to south foyer

south foyer entrance

south foyer
 

north foyer upstairs

event hall

event hall: fritted glass facade

hall 1.0 exhibition space

closed space allows a greater control of the lighting

entrance and exit from hall 1.0

from the upstairs area

hall 1.1 in a distinctively lighter environment

construction panorama

site (under construction)

axonometric of program

project info:

hall 1.0 (ground floor)   
exhibition space (gross): 10,000 m2 (incl. foyers and event hall)
hall height: 10 m
pillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 m
media grid: 8.00 x 8.85 m
event hall – surface area: 3,300 m2
foyer south – surface area: 1,000 m2
foyer north – surface area: 1,100 m2

hall 1.1 (1st floor)    
exhibition space (gross): 14,000 m2
hall height: 8 m
pillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 m
media grid: 8.00 x 8.00 m
      
hall 1.2 (2nd floor)     
exhibition space (gross): 14 000 m2
hall height: 8 m
pillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 m
media grid: 8.00 x 8.00 m

event hall:
surface area (without wall): 3,300 m2
hall height: 10 m
surface area of foyer (incl. gallery): 1,500 m2
      
capacity     
concert seating: 2,500 people
seminar seating: 1,700 people
banquet seating: 1,360 people

herzog & de meuron team:
partners: jacques herzog, pierre de meuron, stefan marbach (partner in charge), wolfgang hardt
project team: tobias winkelmann (associate, project director), michael schmidt (associate), stefan hörner (associate), roger huwyler (project architect),
roland schreiber (project architect); philip albrecht, israel alvarez matamoros, michael bär, axel beck, marcelo bernardi, benito blanco avellano, alexander bürgi,
amparo casaní arazo, estelle chan, massimo corradi (digital technology group), francisco de freitas, dorothee dietz, francis fawcett, oliver franke, eik frenzel,
johann gruber, sabine harmuth, oke hauser, volker helm (digital technology group), wilhelm heusser, yuko himeno, ursula hürzeler, debora hummel,
thorsten kemper, oxana krause, sophia lau, christian laviola, corinne lopez, xiaojing lu, ulrik mathiasson, katja mezger, marcello nasso, benjamin olschner,
david palussiere, dirk peters, louis putot, susanna rahm, holger rasch, sebastian reinhardt, nina andrea renner, steffen riegas (digital technology group),
kathrin riemenschnitter, nathalie rinne, georg sebastian schmid, katja schneider, katharina schwiete, jochen seelos, jan skuratowski, johannes staudt,
matthias stücheli, nicolas venzin, manuel villanueva, thomas von girsewald, miriam waltz, romy weber, léonie wenz, gerd wetzel, douwe wieërs, thomas wyssen,
claudia winkelmann, camillo zanardini, christian zerreis

consulting (general contractor phase):
building physics: zimmermann + leuthe gmbh, aetigkofen, switzerland
civil engineering: burger & partner ingenieure ag, basel, switzerland
facade engineering: feroplan engineering ag, chur, switzerland
geotechnical consultant: pfirter + nyfeler partner ag, muttenz, switzerland
lighting consultant: bartenbach lichtlabor gmbh, aldrans, austria
security, fire protection consultant: gruner ag, basel, switzerland
traffic consultant: rapp infra ag, basel, switzerland
door coordinator: brütsch elektronik ag, uhwiesen, switzerland
media concept: iart interactive ag, basel, switzerland
structural survey, survey: gruner ag ingenieure und planer, basel, switzerland
technical planner gastronomy: axet gmbh, embrach, switzerland

planning ( general contractor phase)
architect planning: herzog & de meuron basel ltd., basel, switzerland
electrical engineering: herzog kull group ag, aarau/zurich, switzerland
hvac engineering: lippuner energie- und metallbautechnik ag, graps, switzerland; cm engineering: gmbh, dübendorf, switzerland; plodeck kurt ecs, neftenbach, switzerland
landscape design: vogt landschaftsarchitekten, zurich, switzerland
mechanical engineering: lippuner energie- und metallbautechnik ag, graps, switzerland
plumbing engineering: rechberger huustechnik ag, zurich, switzerland
structural engineering: ribi + blum ag ingenieure und planer, romanshorn, switzerland; gruner ag, basel, switzerland; wito engineering gmbh, st. gallen, switzerland
sustainability consultant: ingenieurbüro stefan graf, basel, switzerland
design & build contractor: hrs real estate ag, frauenfeld, switzerland

planning (general planer phase):
general planning: arge gp, herzog & de meuron / burckhardt + partner ag, basel, switzerland
cost consultant: burckhardt + partner ag, basel, switzerland
electrical, hvac engineering: arge scherler ag / aicher de martin zweng ag / herzog kull group ag, basel, switzerland
structural engineering: arge gruner ag / ernst basler + partner ag, basel / zürich, switzerland
building physics: zimmermann + leuthe gmbh, aetigkofen, switzerland
facade engineering: neuschwander + morf ag, basel, switzerland
lighting consultant: bartenbach lichtlabor gmbh, aldrans, austria
security consultant: gruner ag, basel, switzerland
traffic consultant: rapp infra ag, basel, switzerland
fire protection: gruner ag, basel, switzerland