Ornithological Centre SempachStudy commission

The Ornithological Centre Sempach has developed a concept allowing an intensive and diverse study of bird life. Now that the staff has moved out, the grounds of the ornithological station by the lake can be used to accommodate a visitor centre. The architecture is required to respond to the topics birds and nature by taking into account the special location near Lake Sempach right next to the bank protection zone and treating the environment with respect.

The free form with a roughly triangular footprint is clearly distinct from the other buildings and forms part of the bank protection zone. The sculptural structure borders the plot towards the road and transitions with the landscape towards the lake. Its protective enclosing wall becomes a facade, the roof turns into landscape and the tower-like elevation functions as a landmark. The materialisation based on local raw materials – rammed concrete, mudbricks and oakwood – reflects the desire to build sustainably. Coverage with mosses and small plants as a “natural” ageing process on the facade provides habitats for plants and animals. A self-sufficient energy system using geothermal power is developed for the building.

Utilisation of the entire area permitted to build on allows most of the spatial programme to be arranged at ground level. The geometry of the interior rooms is derived from the flight paths of the birds. Visitor tours start from the building and continue through the garden to the roof and end in the look-out tower. The interest of visitors is awakened at the entrance to the building by a glimpse of the tower, aviary and garden. A system of paths together with the look-out tower permit insights into and views of the atmospheric habitats of birds; this experience is enhanced by the design of the building as a converging natural space.