Wood works: Seilerlinhart Architects’ ode to timber completes in Switzerland
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Sustainable forests in the mountainous region surrounding Lake Lucerne cater for Switzerland’s thriving wood processing industry. Tucked in the southwestern corner, the Swiss Commune of Alpnach is home to the production plant of Walter Küng AG. The carpentry firm developed a system in which prefabricated wall, roof and floor elements are assembled from 100 per cent untreated timber and connected by wooden dowels, requiring a factory extension to commence production.
The Wooden Hall (or Factory 3 as it is often referred to) by Lucerne based Seilerlinhart Architects, is designed to reflect the factory's sustainability agenda. The 2,535 sq m single storey production facility is constructed almost exclusively in locally sourced spruce and fir, showcasing the versatility of timber as a renewable material. Clad in large format spruce shingles and topped with a rhythmically slatted cantilevering fascia, the elongated hall is a celebration of timber construction techniques, scooping the 2015 Prix Lignum regional Swiss wood award for its efforts.
The vast shed, supported by an impressive glulam frame and lined in spruce and pine, capitalizes on fresh air and daylight with three northern skylights and large areas of glazing. The green buck doesn’t stop there; electricity is generated from photovoltaics on the pitched roof, and heat is provided by a central wood chip boiler. With the increasing importance of renewable materials, this is a factory that practices what it preaches.
The 38 x 78m production facility accommodates the manufacture of the plants’ timber elemental building system. The ethical design for prefabricated wall, roof and floor products, assembled from 100% untreated timber and connected by dowels, set a sustainable agenda to be reflected in the design of the factory
The elegant exterior is clad in scales of spruce shingle and topped by a striking cantilevering fascia, with a repetitive pattern of slatted timber boarding
Locally sourced from sustainable forests around Lake Lucerne, the hall is constructed almost exclusively from spruce and fir, demonstrating the versatility of timber construction
The structural glulam frame is infilled with insulated walls and ceilings of solid pine and spruce, with vast rooflights and plentiful windows providing daylight and fresh air
Local sourcing of materials kept CO₂ emissions from transportation to a minimum. Electricity is generated from photovoltaics on the roof and heat from a central wood chip boiler, shared by the entire factory complex
The structural frame of expansive glulam roof trusses with columns confined to the perimeter walls has enabled a vast uninterrupted working space
INFORMATION
For more information on Seilerlinhart Architects, visit their website (opens in new tab)
-
‘A crossover of ideas and emotion’: Simone Rocha on introducing menswear to her label
As the collection arrives at London’s Dover Street Market with a special installation and zine, Simone Rocha speaks about the roots of the menswear offering, the art of collaboration, and a campaign which subverts ‘the archetypes of masculinity’
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Playfully transparent roof defines German Glass House escape
The Glass House by Sigurd Larsen, set amid nature outside Berlin, is an unconventional country home with a distinctive transparent roof
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
The Learning Tree nursery nurtures through sustainable architecture
The Learning Tree, a Romford nursery by Delve Architects, uses natural materials and sustainable architecture principles to nurture young minds
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Heir lift: a Swiss architect rebuilds a family legacy in St Moritz
By Sophie Lovell • Published
-
Rawlins Design breathes new life into midcentury Fire Island House
Rawlins Design respectfully remodels a midcentury gem on New York’s Fire Island, a 1969 house originally designed by architect Harry Bates
By Alfredo Mineo • Last updated
-
Escape to the country with this contemporary Polish farmhouse
BXB studio head Bogusław Barnaś and his team transform a Polish farmhouse into a 21st century rural home
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Suburban house by SPPARC surprises and delights in London
A suburban house in leafy south London takes domestic craft to another level, courtesy of London architecture studio SPPARC
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Helsinki’s Pikku-Finlandia temporary event space is a student project come to life
Pikku-Finlandia, a sustainable, temporary wood event space, has opened to the public in Helsinki – and it’s born of the ambitious thesis of two students, Jaakko Torvinen and Elli Wendelin, featured in Wallpaper’s 2022 Graduate Directory
By Nasra Abdullahi • Last updated
-
Minimalist sauna design is idyllic Stockholm Archipelago lookout point
A minimalist Swedish sauna by Matteo Foresti offers perspiration with perspective
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated