The challenge for this service centre was to adapt Mercedes Benz’s corporate design guidelines to local climate and environmental considerations. Promoting the brand identity, the centre is set parallel to a major road with its roof tilted back from a high curtain wall to create the maximum frontage. Its revealed steel structure suggests technological awareness, while extensive use of glass conveys transparency. But there are also energy-saving features: an internal courtyard draws in natural light; mechanical sun shades and bamboo plants reduce solar gain on the western façade. A strict waste management system is also integral to the design.
Source:
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2011.