Just a stone’s throw away from the old company headquarters, the striking building at the intersection of Bruno-Jacoby-Weg and Tränkestrasse in Stuttgart’s Degerloch district is the “face of the new location” and marks the start of the Tränke Industrial Park. The history of the long-established Gustav Epple company began in 1909 with the takeover of a small carpentry shop in Degerloch and is now—over 100 years later—continued in a sustainable, modern building that offers space for around 115 employees on a gross floor area of 4,300 square metres.
The transformation of the premises stands for change and the new company building for the values of the evolved company. In this context, the building materials wood and concrete play a central role, both in terms of design and function, and serve as a reminder of the history and philosophy of Gustav Epple Bauunternehmung.
The result is a 3-storey, sculptural new building designed as a core-insulated and integrally coloured fair-faced concrete structure. The building material concrete lends the building strength, vigour and its very own character, which underlines the architectural idea and additionally intensifies its impact in the interplay with the extravagant ground plan. The building thus presents itself on a footprint that is reminiscent of an isosceles triangle with rounded and right-angled corners, defining an elegant and soft building contour. The compact volume stands out self-confidently from the surrounding buildings and already represents the inner values of the company on the outside: innovation and progress as well as tradition and down-to-earthness.
The interior of the building is also dominated by puristic-looking materials. Fair-faced concrete walls and smoothly polished concrete floors radiate calm and consistency. Warm wooden surfaces add emphases. The harmonious combination of the two building materials characterises the modern, minimalist appearance and creates a coherent overall concept that suits the innovative and tradition-conscious company.
At Epple, the focus is on the employee who is considered a member of the “family”. This is also reflected in the functional design of the building, which is conceived as a modern working environment in open-space offices on all three floors. The centrepiece is the bright atrium with a triangular floor plan that connects the office levels via a void and contributes to both orientation and community formation. A steel spiral staircase ensures short distances and promotes communication between the levels—the managing directors with their offices on the 2nd floor are a self-evident and always available part of the working world.