Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Porsche Zentrum Zuffenhausen

This is a project by Cepezed Architects and it is located at Stuttgart, Germany. There are twelve images for Porsche Zentrum Zuffenhausen.

: © Fas Keuzenkamp

Project images

Designer's statement

Standard for the worldwide architectural Porsche Corporate Identity. Hundreds of branches of the prestigious make of car have now emulated this customer centre in the direct vicinity of the Porsche factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The sober but exceptionally high-quality allure emphasizes the perfection of the Porsche product. Form, technology, and image unite seamlessly.

Besides a showroom, the building accommodates offices, garage workplaces, and warehouses. The twelve-metre-high façade has been largely implemented as a smooth, stainless-steel skin with the same undercooled perfection as the cars on display. Only the plinth has been realized in glass. The curved façade profile integrates the building splendidly in the architectural context and also echoes the well-formed contours of the sports cars inside.

With its meticulous finishing, the centre exhibits austere, clear lines without excess decoration, simultaneously radiating a power of attraction that makes the viewer long for what is on display inside. In doing so, the customer centre primarily projects the feelings that are connected to the Porche brand. The building and the product are not rivals, but reinforce one another.

Inside, the showroom, offices and garage workplaces are grouped around the central warehouse. Customers who bring their cars to the workplace can park in a sheltered, covered spot. The sports cars are lined up on the floor and on large table constructions that also connect to the various offices that are transparently designed. The lighting is also an exceptional feature. The cars receive natural light during the daytime via large strip windows in the roof, so that they look exactly the same as they do out on the street. In the evenings, the showroom is illuminated by artificial light. The dark floor and backdrop of the showroom then produce a dramatic effect which makes the cars seem even more exclusive and desirable.

Location: Porscheplatz 9, Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany
Client: Dr. Ing. H.C.F. Porsche Ag
Gfa: 6,673 m2
Realization: 2000
Photography: Fas Keuzenkamp