Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is informed by the convergence of form and content in clockwork. It is conceived like the coils of a watch, ticking and advancing in perpetuity like the gallery visitors and watchmakers moving cyclically with the structure. Every element is governed by the functional requirements of the exhibition while appearing as a sculpture conceived in a single gesture. The all-glass structure is made up of two spirals that seamlessly integrate into the existing landscape. The museum’s collection, which showcases some timepieces, is displayed alongside two in-situ production workshops, creating a living museum.
A continuous public path stretches from street level to the penthouses and allows people to bike all the way from the ground floor to the top, moving alongside townhouses with gardens, winding through the urban perimeter block. Two sloping green roofs totaling , m are strategically placed to reduce the urban heat island effect as well as providing the visual identity to the project and tying it back to the adjacent farmlands towards the south.
The m site is positioned next to the existing urban fabric in the future development zones of the Yongsan masterplan. BIG’s design includes two elegant towers with a height of and m. To meet the height requirements of the site, the exceeding building mass is transformed into an upper and lower horizontal bar, which bridge the two towers at m and m height. The two towers are additionally connected through the arrival bar at the ground level and a courtyard below ground.
BIGs proposal was designed to serve as the new headquarters for st Century Fox and News Corp who were planning to move and consolidate their companies and more than , people under one roof. The design concentrates the needs and requirements of the media company and other tenants into seven separate building volumes, each tailored to their unique activities, while simultaneously creating , sq ft of outdoor space.
A central canyon provides daylight and a visual connection between laboratories and offices. In the atrium a cascade of informal meeting spaces lead to the public rooftop terrace and faculty club. A public stair to the rooftop offers glimpses into the activities of the laboratories which are divided by transparent walls throughout the building to ensure visual connections between the working spaces. The upper levels have panoramic views towards the Notre Dame and the skyline of Paris.