In order to ensure growth in a competitive market while maintaining strategically crucial areas of research and development in Switzerland, Trafag relocated their headquarters to a 10,000-square meter industrial zone located in between Zurich’s Oberland highway and the adjacent railway tracks. The elongated proportion of the site established the orientation and volume of the building, which is divided into five strips: access and delivery; hall and production; garden and recreation; office and administration. The complex is designed to double its surface in the future without having to alter the spatial strategy. As for circulation, the offices and production area remain separated; meanwhile, the research, development, and production areas are connected by footbridges and stairs of irregular geometries that become the central element of the courtyard. The new construction is encased in a rhythmically folded facade of raw, perforated aluminum plates. This lends the building a homogeneous appearance interrupted only by the accesses. On a functional level, the outer skin fulfills two tasks: firstly, it shields the more private research and development department from view, and secondly, it acts as a Faraday cage, essential for production...[+]