A Mixed-Use Visitor Center Recreates Rapunzel’s Tower

While grocery shopping in Germany, it’s typical to encounter a wide array of organic products. In fact, the country is so dedicated to organic farming that Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has dictated that at least 30% of agricultural land must be devoted to the practice by 2030.

Among those organic food producers is Rapunzel Naturkost, a German company founded in 1974 that produces and sells organic and vegetarian foods. Located in Legau, Bavaria, the company has created an expansive corporate campus that houses its offices and production facilities. As part of it, the company wanted to create an inviting visitor center that is open to the public and showcases the brand and its values, with its slogan “Wir machen bio aus liebe” (“We make organic out of love”) as a guiding principle.

As its name suggests, the building was inspired by the story of Rapunzel, a European fairy tale most notably published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Since Rapunzel is locked in a tower for most of the story, adding a tower element to the visitor center was non-negotiable.

From that 21-meter (70 feet) tower falls Rapunzel’s hair, “which continues all the way through the building,” said Martin Haas — cofounder and partner at Stuttgart-based architecture firm haascookzemmrich Studio2050 and lead architect on the project. The heroine’s braid was interpreted through the 14.5-meter-high (48 feet), 12-ton triple-spiral self-supporting wood staircase that connects the lower basement to the roof. “We wanted to bring people into motion, and they have to literally climb up to see all the various facilities,” Haas told LoopNet.

The stairs make a strong statement aesthetically. That’s because of their design, as well as the material used in their construction — sustainably sourced oak and spruce. “It’s purely wood. There is no steel and no supportive element. We like to show that wood construction is not necessarily a limitation,” Haas said. Yet, the staircase proved to be one of the challenging aspects of the project, as Haas noted that it was not easy to create a curved spiral out of wood. Its production took place in individual segments with up to eight stages, as explained on haascookzemmrich’s website.

The building itself was designed as a walkable sculpture, so it houses another garden on the roof. “When you construct, you should use the space as much as possible, and therefore the roof became a very important aspect,” Haas said. Since Legau is close to the Alps, the roof terrace offers breathtaking views of the mountains and the surrounding countryside.

To make the property as useful as possible, Haas and his team developed a mixed-use concept. “In our understanding of highly sustainable approaches, if you build a project, try to build it so it’s in use for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Haas said. Accordingly, the four-level, 6,600-square-meter building (71,042 square feet) has several diverse uses.

Despite its unique aesthetic, the building was never intended to serve solely as a branding tool, according to Haas. “We wanted to be as transparent as possible and to showcase what they actually do. Therefore, production was a must-have in the building,” he said. By using glass partitions, the company’s baking and coffee roasting processes are on full display in the building, offering visitors a view into how these products are made.

In addition to the manufacturing space, the building houses a 600-square-meter (6,458 square feet) exhibition about organic food created by Atelier Markgraph, a Frankfurt-based studio offering brand and themed experiences. It also includes an organic food market, a wine bar and rooms for yoga classes, training courses and events. Outside is a garden leading to tropical grow houses where coffee plants are cultivated and a large picnic area where visitors can linger and relax.

One of the biggest challenges of creating a mixed-use building with such a variety of applications was that it did not fit within standard building regulations, as buildings in Germany are normally classified as either residential, industrial or office properties. “Building regulations came out of a time when multi-layering and flexible structures were uncommon, so we had to change that,” Haas noted. Luckily, the officials responsible for granting the construction permits understood the team’s approach and allowed them to proceed.

Those building plans were original, to say the least. Designed as a walkable sculpture, the property is divided into three wings, which represent the elements of earth, water and air, which are all essential for food production.

Unifying all three wings is a fourth element: abundant natural light. On the ground floor, there are triple-insulated floor-to-ceiling windows to improve thermal insulation in the winter. The wide roof “ensures natural shading of the daylight-optimized rooms,” according to the haascookzemmrich Studio 2050’s website. “It’s obvious to have maximum daylight to minimize the use of artificial lighting,” Haas said.

To bring natural light to the center of the property, Haas and his team installed a skylight on top of the spiraling staircase. “Even in the middle of the building, the sun is shining,” Haas said.

In addition to light, Haas and his team also prioritized views from the property. On the upper floors, there are six dormer windows shaped to augment vistas of the surrounding campus and the landscape beyond.

The roof of the property features a unique use of building materials; it is covered by 120,000 ceramic bricks on an all-timber frame.

Haas was inspired by older buildings topped by multihued tiles, the result of temperature variations during their creation. For that reason, he didn’t want to use a basic, uniform product from an industrial manufacturer. Instead, Haas wanted to use ceramic bricks; however, kilns specialized for this type of technique are difficult to find nowadays.

The team eventually found a partner in Gasser Ceramic, based in Switzerland, one of the rare brick kilns that still create ceramic bricks. The clay, water and sand bricks were perfected by ceramic professionals.

They all have a unique finish, with no two bricks alike, which gives a multifaceted look to the building. Not only that, but they also absorb water and release it, which helps to regulate the temperature inside the visitor center.

The bricks are so innovative that they are currently listed for Germany’s Material Awards (Material Preis), which recognizes new material developments and innovative building materials in a construction project.

Besides the sustainably and locally sourced wood, most other materials, save for the roof bricks, were sourced as close as possible to Legau to keep the CO2 footprint minimal. “Transporting costs are expensive, and so we decided to look at the immediate surroundings,” Haas said.

Local carpenter Georg Konrad, who is located a 10-minute drive from Rapunzel, completed the cloakroom in the basement, as well as some office equipment, counters for the reception area, the yoga room and the cooking workshop. The plumbing was done by Spenglerei Lerchenmüller, which is located 20 km from the property, and the glass was taken care of by Glas Trösch, which is a 17-minute drive away.

“This regional aspect, the local connection with the building industry and the close proximity were also very unusual,” Haas said. “Normally, you check into catalogs, and you try to find the best firm for your design solutions that could be somewhere in Europe.”

Professionals who worked on the project with Haas and his team were very eager to find solutions and collaborate, which is also not very common in the building industry, according to Haas. “Usually, you ask for a price, you ask for a product and it’s very business-like, and that wasn’t the case here,” Haas said. “We all liked this idea that this building became a success, and everybody worked more than normal to make this possible.”

The visitor center has proven to be popular for Rapunzel Naturkost. A LinkedIn post published by the company in October counted over 200,000 visitors and over 200 events since the visitor center opened at the end of 2022.

The world at large also seems to appreciate the property. The project has won a slew of awards, such as the Gold at the Global Future Design Awards 2023. It was also touted a Winner of the International Architecture Award 2023, which honors new and innovative buildings around the world and is organized by The Chicago Athenaeum, the Museum of Architecture and Design, The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Metropolitan Arts Press.