coop himmelb(l)au's 'house of bread' is a cabinet of curiosities

in northern austria, coop himmelb(l)au has completed a new facility for a company that specializes in the production of bread. the building comprises two main components: a box-shaped plinth that can be used for a variety of events, presentations, or workshops for up to 120 visitors; and the ‘wunderkammer des brotes’ — a two-storey free form exhibition area that floats above. the two elements have been realized in contrasting materials, with cast-in-place concrete used for the base, and stainless steel shingles used to clad the rounded wooden structure of the museum.

all images © markus pillhofer

the customer information center and event forum has been completed for backaldrin, a company that produces bakery products as well as ingredients for bread and pastries. ‘the design of the exhibition area is based on the idea of a cabinet of curiosities, a concept for collections originating in the baroque period,’ explains coop himmelb(l)au. ‘this concept is especially appropriate for the unusual and small-scale objects in the collection related to the topic ‘bread’ which are presented in the exhibition area.’

the building comprises two components: a box-shaped plinth and a freeform exhibition area

the ‘wunderkammer des brotes’ is articulated around a circular atrium, with items from the collection individually suspended from above. a spiral staircase encircles the atrium, allowing visitors to view the exhibited items from a variety of perspectives. the two exhibition levels contain a range of objects, which are presented with on walls, tables, and cabinets integrated into the building’s architecture. the atrium is naturally illuminated via a skylight, while the surrounding exhibition spaces are illuminated with artificial light.

a spiral staircase leads to the main exhibtion areas above

the museum seeks to bring the history of bread to life through the exhibition of 1,200 objects from 9,000 years. the exhibition structure’s self-supporting wood shell is composed of layered circles of cross laminated timber, which remain visible internally. meanwhile, to ensure a short construction period, the design team utilized 3D CNC technology to prefabricate parts of building. see designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

the ‘wunderkammer des brotes’ is articulated around a circular atrium

items from the collection are individually suspended from above

the two exhibition levels contain a range of objects

display cabinets are integrated into the building’s architecture

the self-supporting wood shell is composed of layered circles of cross laminated timber

stainless steel shingles have been used to clad the rounded structure

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coop himmelblau PANEUM wunderkammer des brotes asten austria designboom

g11coop himmelblau PANEUM wunderkammer des brotes asten austria designboom

project info:

name: PANEUM – wunderkammer des brotes
client: backaldrin österreich the kornspitz company GmbH
planning: coop himmelb(l)au – wolf d. prix & partner ZT GmbH
design principal: wolf d. prix
design partner: karolin schmidbaur
project lead: friedrich hähle, günther weber (until 2015)
project and design architect: stephan sobl
project team: albara arab, martina bighignoli, daniel bolojan, donna riedel, benjamin schmidt, damian witt, denitsa parleva, risa kagami
model building: win man, nam la chi