ABSTRACT
Though a production engineer, Blase is interested in architectural design and understands that the environment for any activity can be detrimental or advantageous to operational efficiency. He had considered adopting a standard approach to solving the factory’s accommodation problem, either by moving into a speculatively built factory or commissioning a design-build package. However, he was aware that though these would be quick solutions, the long-term result would be compromised as the ultimate flexibility the business required would not be provided. In May 1990 IGUS acquired a plot of land outside Cologne with planning permission for light industrial use and decided to build a new factory. Blase set out to find the right sort of architect who could design the flexible building type he envisioned, which would be built in phases as funds allowed. He visited the USA, Germany and Italy as well as the United Kingdom before seeing Grimshaw’s design for the Herman Miller warehouse in Chippenham. Herman Miller produced high-quality office furniture designed on modular principles which enabled it to be rearranged into many different patterns associated with different tasks. The warehouse which Grimshaw designed for them in 1982 utilised a similar system in the building’s cladding that
ing functional requirements. The building was also situated next to the main London to Bristol railway line and created a highly visible, crisp modern image for thousands of potential customers. Blase identified these features of the building as synonymous with the requirements for his own factory and went to Grimshaw’s London office where he walked in off the street without an appointment and asked to meet the architect so that he could offer him the job of designing his factory. In the brief for a limited competition between Grimshaw and a local German architect, Blase encouraged the creation of a prominent, high-profile example of exciting architectural design that would complement his company’s image. This led to an unqualified acceptance of Grimshaw’s proposals which were described by the client as ‘perfect’.
