Project
| Location: | Łódź, ul. Techniczna 3/5 |
| Client: | SEW Eurodrive Polska Sp. z o.o. |
| Area: | 3 490 m2 (2001) + 5329 m2 (2013) = 8819 m2 |
| Design: | 2001 all stages of a comprehensive, cross-industry project, land development, connections, roads, services rendered in German 2013 extension concept |
| Execution: | Stage I 2001-2002 AGG architect’s supervision and acting in the capacity of replacement investor, extension 2013-2014 |
The architecture of movement and the movement of architecture.
SEW Eurodrive is a market leader in the drive systems industry, as well as a manufacturer of reduction motors and industrial automation systems which operates in accordance with its motto: driving the world. It is rare for an investor to expect original architectural designs from an architect, especially when planning to construct a factory. SEW is an international holding company known worldwide for its unique industrial plants which are also highly aesthetically pleasing. Quality in all areas is what drives the company.
Ernst Blickle, SEW’s president, follows the motto of “architecture is the company’s hallmark and is always worth it”, which is why he organised a contest for the design of the factory and the company’s headquarters in Poland in 2000. AGG won the competition and thus carried out a project for one of the first foreign investors in Łódź.
If there is movement, SEW is there as well – this was the line of thinking for the AGG architects working on the project. Thus, the building does not just stand – it moves, shifts, lifts off the ground, waves and leans. The building looks dynamic thanks to the intersecting, one could say ascetic, shapes. Their expressiveness manifests in the slanted walls and the facade’s dimensions, which “emphasise movement”. This unconventional effect was achieved using two types of materials on the facades of the office building and the adjacent production hall: silver corrugated sheet metal and glass.
SEW Eurodrive is a market leader in the drive systems industry, as well as a manufacturer of reduction motors and industrial automation systems which operates in accordance with its motto: driving the world. It is rare for an investor to expect original architectural designs from an architect, especially when planning to construct a factory. SEW is an international holding company known worldwide for its unique industrial plants which are also highly aesthetically pleasing. Quality in all areas is what drives the company.
Ernst Blickle, SEW’s president, follows the motto of “architecture is the company’s hallmark and is always worth it”, which is why he organised a contest for the design of the factory and the company’s headquarters in Poland in 2000. AGG won the competition and thus carried out a project for one of the first foreign investors in Łódź.
If there is movement, SEW is there as well – this was the line of thinking for the AGG architects working on the project. Thus, the building does not just stand – it moves, shifts, lifts off the ground, waves and leans. The building looks dynamic thanks to the intersecting, one could say ascetic, shapes. Their expressiveness manifests in the slanted walls and the facade’s dimensions, which “emphasise movement”. This unconventional effect was achieved using two types of materials on the facades of the office building and the adjacent production hall: silver corrugated sheet metal and glass.
AGG created the headquarters of SEW Eurodrive, which is a symbol: the “architecture of movement” and the “movement of architecture”. The refined simplicity of the solution and the building’s proportions are what defined it and resulted in it becoming a timeless design which is always attractive and intriguing. Thus, when planning its extension more than 11 years since its construction, SEW Eurodrive requested that, in addition to the obvious functional and technological needs being met, the extension should be a continuation and a stylistic match for the original part of the building.
The project also involved an extension of the plant within a several-year timeframe as early as 2000. The execution of the 2000 project was supposed to be the first stage of a future project to build a very dynamic-looking building. The extension design was created in 2013.
The project also involved an extension of the plant within a several-year timeframe as early as 2000. The execution of the 2000 project was supposed to be the first stage of a future project to build a very dynamic-looking building. The extension design was created in 2013.
