IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2012 - 39

3. EMERGENCy aCCESS

Challenge: Keeping a 7footwide circulation zone clear without having the space look empty. “the canteen is part of the emergencyexit route from the adjacent atrium, so we had to keep pathways open,” ippolito explains. When Spiegel Group (owner of news magazine Der Spiegel) commissioned Ippolito fleitz Group to design the cafeteria in its new Henning Larsen–designed headquarters, the firm was given the option to reuse the client’s former eatery: verner panton’s landmark 1969 Spiegel-Kantine. although the team concluded that its modular, squared-off design didn’t jibe with the building’s polygonal floor plate, a question remained. “Do something panton-esque, or depart from him?” explains principal peter Ippolito. The firm opted for a novel design that nonetheless channels its antecedent via a kindred emphasis on modularity and bold geometry. But the subdued finishes—white terrazzo, satin-finished aluminum, whitewashed oak—add up to a more restrained scheme than panton’s immersive orange and violet confection. “We wanted something with the same impact, but that was more timeless,” says Ippolito.
1. LOOK up

Solution: sinuous black lines embedded in the mattewhite terrazzo floor annunciate paths of egress while ensuring that tables don’t encroach on those walkways. reinforcing the exit routes are scrims of plastic rods, which hang from hooks so they can be easily cleared for large events.
4. MIx IT up

Challenge: combat loftiness and create layering without compartmentalizing the room.

Challenge: the copious glazing and paucity of solid walls didn’t leave many surfaces to play with. Solution: the ceiling plane was exploited as the primary design gesture. “When the room is filled during lunchtime, the ceiling is the only surface you can really see anyway,” says ippolito. it’s covered in 4,230 aluminum disks, each 1 foot in diameter and suspended from a steel armature. canted 4 degrees off horizontal and angled in different directions, they create a shimmering effect that mirrors the water view. triangular slivers of space between the disks allow room for speakers, light fixtures, sprinkler heads, and other mechanicals.
2. SuRROuND SOuND

Solution: the design team again turned to the ceiling, installing bowlshape yellow painted–steel canopies that lend scale and dictate the position of tables so they don’t get repositioned. below them hang dimmable pendants that combine uplighting and a spotlight directed to the center of the table. blackgranite tabletops are laseretched with a gradient pattern that’s densest where the spot hits to softly diffuse illumination.
5. CONquER THE DIvIDE

Challenge: to accommodate a variety of events, not just the noontime lunch rush. “the whole staff congregates there for assemblies,” says ippolito. “they also use it for parties, readings, and other business events.” Solution: in addition to incorporating hidden audio visual technologies for meetings and presentations, the space is can be subdivided via a removable partition made of doublesided mirror. During the day, when light floods the space, the glass is transparent; at night, when lights are turned off in the main space, the surface becomes reflective so you can’t see through it. “in the evenings, when less people use the canteen, they sit in the smaller front area to feel more enclosed.”

Challenge: Glass walls plus hard flooring— multiplied by a few hundred diners—equals a recipe for cacophony. Solution: the aluminum disks are micro perforated and laminated onto noiseabsorbing backing. the ceiling above is also treated to an acoustic absorber, painted black so it’s invisible. in addition, the few solid walls are clad with “curtains” of whitewashed oak whose undulations help break sound.

Where’s the panton’s SpiegelKantine now? After the spiegel building was sold, the landmark cafeteria found a new home. elements of it were installed in the fi fth fl oor of the new Henning Larsen–designed headquarters, where it’s used as a small snack bar. the remaining modules are now in the permanent collection of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, where it’s open to the public.

perspective

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2012