Maag Recycling

Maag Recycling in Winterthur, Switzerland by Open Operating System

Photos copyright architekturbild

For Maag Recycling's facilities in Winterthur - a relatively small town northeast of Zurich - architect Open Operating System (OOS) and landscape architect Rotzler Krebs Partner envisioned the building in a multitude of ways beyond its intended function as a recycling center.

Sitting on the roof of the facility is parking. A curb cut at the street leads to the ramp that leads to the roof. One cannot miss it as the concrete is colored a bright green. Without cars the parking lot resembles an American football field. While this may seem like a shallow gesture, it's one of the approaches that coincides with the client's role as a positive force in society. A dark surface would bottle up heat and release it at night, and uncolored concrete would be a drab addition to the neighborhood. Hence a playful color that reduces heat and makes for a pleasing neighbor that just happens to provide parking.

The other rooftop element besides the parking is a small park that acts as a break area for employees of Maag as well as an amenity for the neighborhood. Here, the landscape architect played off the bright green with contrasting pink planters and overflow bins that reveal the workings of the plant below. Lime trees sit in some of the planters, giving the perception that the rooftop park is an extension of the surrounding trees. By incorporating a park into the design in the beginning stages, a rare amenity was built alongside and above the practical elements that usually take precedence and make a park as a late addition an impossibility.

The building itself is a concrete structure wrapped in a steel mesh, shielding the interior spaces during the day but exposing them at night. Bright green walls continue the theme from the roof, as large-scale graphics playfully illustrate the workings of the plant. Here, the architect and landscape architect worked together to make a NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) easier to live with.