In central Switzerland, the newly constructed Küng Office building by Seiler Linhart has a brutalist core hidden beneath an expertly crafted wooden shell.
The building's circumambulations, which were constructed as a suspended oak structure and can be understood as an interpretation of vernacular elements of regional farmhouse architecture, are striking. Things get really exciting when you look at the load-bearing reinforced concrete core of the house, which contains the elevator, stairs and sanitary facilities. What in Switzerland would probably have been executed in smooth and clean exposed concrete, Seiler Linhart make into a sandblasted, expressively brutalistic event.
Sculptural and almost luxurious, this surprising core is hidden behind the neatly joined wooden shell. Fireplaces in the two-story entrance hall, in the meeting room, and in the publicly accessible exhibition area on the top floor create precisely the kind of contemporary yet down-to-earth, perfectly staged coziness.
