Urban Aesthetic for an Industrial Zone
Headquarters of the CURA COSMETICS GROUP
An unconventional competence center for a cosmetics company: The functional ensemble of office and logistics buildings in Innsbruck’s industrial zone embodies the perfect symbiosis between the heart and the edge of the city and proves that aesthetic quality and industrial architecture don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
The CURA COSMETICS GROUP commissioned ATP architects engineers to build a new headquarters in the east of Innsbruck where it could pool all its operating facilities in a new competence center. The brief for the headquarters was to combine the various functional areas – administration, product development, packaging, storage, and logistics – in a way that was as compact and functional as possible while also reflecting the high-quality corporate image and exclusivity of the “Judith Williams Cosmetics” brand.
The antithesis to monotone industrial architecture
The design concept for the buildings sought to give the new HQ an unmistakable aesthetic identity that also generated urban added value for the surrounding and otherwise faceless industrial zone. In order to allow visitors to identify the quality of the finished products in the appearance of the building, our integrated design team conceived the two five-story elements as classic “townhouses” with an urban aesthetic. Optically set apart but connected by a base building, a logistics hall complements the building ensemble to the west. Clad in solid larch, this provides a rich urban transition with the adjacent residential zone and the wooded slopes of the Nordkette beyond.
Our ambition was to create workplaces where we ourselves would also love to work every day.
Andreas Bause
Architect, Lead Project Manager in Innsbruck
Offices with a feel-good factor
The client laid great emphasis on the creation of an agreeable workplace atmosphere in the administrative areas. Highly flexible, open, and daylight-flooded interiors were developed in cooperation with the users and our Design&Research team for New Work. For example, so-called team walls enable the meeting rooms to be zoned and offer extra areas – in addition to the classic desk-based workplaces – for Activity Based Working. Partly glazed shelf partitions with integrated telephone boxes and seating niches promote communication and creative working.
Multifunctional buildings
Compact functional areas and short distances guarantee optimal operational processes. The “Judith Williams Beauty World,” a stylish flagship store that enables customers to experience the brand with particular intensity, greets visitors at the entrance to the complex. Alongside the zones for administrative and marketing activities, the townhouses are also home to a laboratory for the development of cosmetic products, a childcare facility, and a generous cafeteria with a terrace.
