The new building for the Integrated Regional Control Center South is located in the midst of a developing business park. Since July 2025, more than 350 fire brigades, 76 ground-based emergency vehicles, and the rescue helicopter Christoph 12 have been dispatched from here. The building meets demanding requirements for a highly complex work environment, advanced technology, and ergonomic design.
At the start of the project, we sat together with the future users to understand how they work — identifying needs, workflows, and relationships functional areas. From these discussions grew the building’s spatial logic: an efficient arrangement of functions expressed in the form of an “L.” One wing houses tactical and operational areas such as emergency call intake and situation rooms, the other administrative offices.
By orienting the building due north, we optimized daylight conditions and broke intentionally from the rigid grid of the surrounding industrial estate. This conscious deviation, driven by natural light and human need, gives the building its quiet autonomy within the site.
Inside the control center, generous glazing brings daylight deep into the interior and while ensuring glare-free working conditions. The large windows also allow visual connections across operational areas, reinforcing the sense of collaboration that defines emergency response. Carefully tuned acoustics, achieved through sound-absorbing surfaces and strategic material choices, support a quiet environment even in moments of high activity. The result is a workplace that balances technical precision with a sense of openness and transparency.
Wood becomes the defining interior element. Slatted wall panels absorb sound while lending warmth and tactility. In the informal meeting zones and break areas, the material continues — furniture-like in its detailing — and creates places for conversation, recovery, and brief moments of respite.
Near the operational areas facing the courtyard lies the "Social Middle"— a shared space that encourages informal exchange and forms a buffer between concentrated and collaborative work.
The entrance opens onto a planted courtyard, the “Cherry Grove,” framed by the two wings. With cherry trees and seating, it offers a sheltered outdoor retreat, connecting the interior’s calm to the natural world outside. The sculptural form of the building, born from functional optimization and daylight orientation, gives it a distinctive presence among its surroundings. Though its design follows natural logic, its appearance feels almost foreign — like a glacial erratic resting in the landscape. This image became the inspiration for the light stone façade, whose monolithic calm captures changing daylight throughout the day. The result is a building that is both precise and empathetic: shaped by human needs, grounded in function, and quietly confident in its place.
Photo Credits: Meike Hansen, archimage
