BORA delivers an impressive architectural highlight

The spectacular new building erected for built-in kitchen appliance manufacturer BORA in the East Westphalian town of Herford provides the ideal setting for extraordinary cooking experiences.In a light, seemingly floating building made of steel and glass, visitors are greeted by staged interiors with high-quality materials.Oak and natural stone fixtures add warm tones in the BORA Flagship Store with additional exhibition spaces and in the restaurant.Concrete and mirror surfaces create a cool contrast to this and underline the character of the exciting architecture.

The highly demanding technical design of this breathtaking building is based on a support structure comprising a ten-metre-high, diamond-shaped steel frame with rounded corners, which appears to float about three metres above the ground.The resulting almost 100-metre-long building – on slender steel supports that make it look like a floating wing – is surrounded by a façade comprised of steel and glass elements that give the building its rhythmic appearance.The partial transparency reflects the desire to connect the building with its environment and to enable dialogue between passers-by and those inside.

LORENZATELIERS’s design principle of creating legible architecture corresponds precisely to BORA’s philosophy.In the interior in particular, the huge steel girders have purposefully been left visible.The modern-style brand and product experience world makes the BORA Experience equally accessible to the company’s retail partners and prospective customers from the fields of construction, home living and furnishing in a multitude of ways:the filigree-looking building envelope spans the exhibition spaces featuring well-known German kitchen manufacturers, the BORA Flagship Store and, on the upper floor (which is attractively integrated into the open mezzanine), the ‘Mirror’ restaurant, which currently boasts the largest convertible roof in Germany.This roof is a unique highlight that turns the interior into a light-flooded outdoor space:in fine weather, two large, retractable panels, each measuring 63 square metres, create a spectacular spatial experience directly above the lounge and restaurant area with practically no noise disturbance from the thousands of vehicles driving past.

The spacious flagship store features an impressive show kitchen and a suitably large dining area so that visitors can experience the entire product world during Live Cooking events.For this purpose, as well as for the other areas, an audio concept suitable for this open-plan layout was designed by the sound specialists from Poet Audio, who use their own exhibition space in the building to present their masterpieces.

Natural materials in transparent architecture

The steel structure of the spectacularly inclined construction is just as visible on the outside as the main frames, ventilation pipes, perforated metal sheets and cooling panels on the inside.

Natural materials and clear shapes were also chosen for the furniture and fixtures.As at the other BORA sites, the BORA team of architects narrowed down the selection to a few select materials and surfaces that were suitable for the respective application.The cool high-tech look of this dynamic architecture is contrasted by natural materials such as wood, stone and leatherthus creating a personal, intentionally homely feel.

The interior design deliberately maintains a distance from the architectural shell – for example, the backrests of the oak benches along the inclined window façade were designed to be light and see-through to ensure a better view – and at the same time creates references to the building.A special highlight is the construction of these benches: when the backrests are folded down they provide a second seating level for the audience and thus for a larger number of guests at cookery demonstrations in the flagship store.The connection between inside and outside is something of a recurring theme throughout the concept.For example, the mineral, uniform concrete-grey floor covering in all interior areas brings the aesthetics of the parking area beneath the building to the inside and forms a neutral backdrop to the emotional staging of the BORA products.The raw PVC flooring also continues the motif of the outer skin stretched around the diamond-shaped steel girders.

Between original and pioneering: the building reflects BORA’s company philosophy

BORA founder and CEO Willi Bruckbauer is a qualified joiner and therefore paid particular attention to the carefully selected materials in the interior.

His success story began with wood, so local oak is used in all BORA sites.This durable wood creates a particularly warm and valuable feel in contrast to the mirror surfaces used to cover the technical core of the building so as to preserve the hall-like impression with all of its spaciousness and openness.BORA products are presented in custom-fit oak boxes which are integrated into the mirror surfaces at different heights.

The interior design repeatedly alludes to the flying nature of the architecture:on the upper floor, for example, there are wine bottles that seem to float horizontally in vertical stainless steel holders between the floor and ceiling of the lounge and restaurant.The free-standing kitchen islands in the room present BORA cooktop extractors on stainless steel and travertine worktops with haptically appealing, napped surfaces and a lateral broken edge.The fronts of the islands are partially covered with LED projection surfaces that can display digital content.According to Willi Bruckbauer, natural materials and pioneering technology go really well together:“With the LED surfaces on the sides of the kitchen islands, we create a connection between aesthetics and modern technology that is characteristic of BORA.” Media technology also supports the product presentation in the new flagship store:with the help of a projector and a screen integrated in the show kitchen, a small cinema for around 20 guests can be set up for cooking events.

The BORA Herford team and its partners are looking forward to presenting the highlights of the new site to numerous specialists and end customers from mid-September.As at the other BORA sites, guests can charge their electric vehicles during their visit.The entire energy concept is tailored to the specific use of the building; it is tipped to be a Nearly Zero-Energy Building (NZEB), depending on its use.