herzog & de meuron: messe basel exhibition hall

‘messe basel hall’ by herzog & de meuron, basel, switzerlandall 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 twooriginal buildings. the main feature differentiating the new structure with the old is the city lounge concept, whereby the traditional courtyard isturned inside out and offers a social space year-round, servicing the main entrances to the north and south foyer and revitalizing exhibition square witha 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 distinctformal character. the entire project was constructed in 22 months, split up into three phases: preliminary site work, main construction work, anddismantling 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 theyoffer 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 anddaylight to neighboring structures. the previously rectangular gallery has now transformed into somewhat of a square, which opens more possibilities inthe use of the space, but also responds more appropriately to the scale of the adjacent neighborhoods. the entire complex conforms to the latest ecologicalstandards, 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 skyimage © 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 mpillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 mmedia grid: 8.00 x 8.85 mevent hall – surface area: 3,300 m2foyer south – surface area: 1,000 m2foyer north – surface area: 1,100 m2

hall 1.1 (1st floor)     exhibition space (gross): 14,000 m2hall height: 8 mpillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 mmedia grid: 8.00 x 8.00 m       hall 1.2 (2nd floor)      exhibition space (gross): 14 000 m2hall height: 8 mpillar grid: 25.8 x 15.7 mmedia grid: 8.00 x 8.00 m

event hall:surface area (without wall): 3,300 m2hall height: 10 msurface area of foyer (incl. gallery): 1,500 m2       capacity     concert seating: 2,500 peopleseminar seating: 1,700 peoplebanquet seating: 1,360 people

herzog & de meuron team:partners: jacques herzog, pierre de meuron, stefan marbach (partner in charge), wolfgang hardtproject 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, switzerlandcivil engineering: burger & partner ingenieure ag, basel, switzerlandfacade engineering: feroplan engineering ag, chur, switzerlandgeotechnical consultant: pfirter + nyfeler partner ag, muttenz, switzerlandlighting consultant: bartenbach lichtlabor gmbh, aldrans, austriasecurity, fire protection consultant: gruner ag, basel, switzerlandtraffic consultant: rapp infra ag, basel, switzerlanddoor coordinator: brütsch elektronik ag, uhwiesen, switzerlandmedia concept: iart interactive ag, basel, switzerlandstructural survey, survey: gruner ag ingenieure und planer, basel, switzerlandtechnical planner gastronomy: axet gmbh, embrach, switzerland

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

planning (general planer phase):general planning: arge gp, herzog & de meuron / burckhardt + partner ag, basel, switzerlandcost consultant: burckhardt + partner ag, basel, switzerlandelectrical, hvac engineering: arge scherler ag / aicher de martin zweng ag / herzog kull group ag, basel, switzerlandstructural engineering: arge gruner ag / ernst basler + partner ag, basel / zürich, switzerlandbuilding physics: zimmermann + leuthe gmbh, aetigkofen, switzerlandfacade engineering: neuschwander + morf ag, basel, switzerlandlighting consultant: bartenbach lichtlabor gmbh, aldrans, austriasecurity consultant: gruner ag, basel, switzerlandtraffic consultant: rapp infra ag, basel, switzerlandfire protection: gruner ag, basel, switzerland