Mercedes Benz Design Centre, Stuttgart, Architect - Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The Mercedes Benz design centre occupies the southwest corner of the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart. This corner location, as well as the shape of the site led to the fan like configuration of the design.

In plan, the building has bays which fan out to house the various functions: design, cad drafting, model making, prototyping and space to exhibit full size car models. The bays radiate from the same central point with each bay occupying an angle of nine degrees. From one side of the building to the other the bays gradually increase in length. They all open onto a shared garden space.

Although the building houses the a prestigious part of Mercedes, the director of Mercedes design was keen for the building to have a workshop atmosphere. He was also concerned that the building should not appear elitist. Therefore the budget was kept modest. To keep the costs of the doubly curved roof to a minimum the roof segments are patches cut from a torus. To maintain a shallow curvature the torus is relatively large in comparison to the patches. As the bays gradually increase in length the roof curvature continues, resulting in the gradual decrease of heights of the windows at the end of each bay. It is this property of the geometry which gives the building a harmony of height to length and curve. The curves of the torus are constant in both directions, therefore although the spans vary, the ribbed steel sheeting, which performs as both structure and cladding, is also constant throughout. 

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