The automotive Customer is King by Franziska Vogl | 12.10.2012

Autohaus Pappas

Where else would the headquarters of a car dealership fit better than along a busy road, where the potential customer marvels at the object of his desire already while passing by. This was exactly the idea Austrian-Hungarian car seller Pappas had in mind, and in 2006 he placed his company headquarters "Autohaus Pappas" right by the Innsbruck federal highway south-west of Salzburg. Four already existing branches have been put together in one place. Apart from the sales and administrative areas there is a garage, an entertainment center and a museum on the 36,000 square meters.

The architects of Aachen-based firm kadawittfeldarchitektur, whose project made them win, among other prizes, the “best architects 11 Award“ in gold, took “car madness” to extremes in terms of architecture. They have created a building accessible with vehicles in which all functional units, be it the garage or the sales department, can be accessed with a car. Architecture is subordinate to the car and seems to have given in to the rapture of speed and dynamics. Still, or maybe because of this, it looks striking and unique.

Automobile makes Architecture

The 19,500 square meter premises of the Pappas company headquarters is surrounded by streets, since it is located at Salzburg’s most striking entry situation. From the street level flat ramps running all around the building lead up to the sales floor and invite customers to a little cruise through the world of new cars. Towards the exposed north-western side the building opens up through an inclined ramp serving as a showroom. Cars dominate the headquarters’ architecture also in terms of choice of material and color. The color is based on the brand colors of the car manufacturer Mercedes, with noble black, white and especially silver gray. The materials fair-faced concrete, aluminum and glass emphasize the technical character and radiate a strong, impulsive atmosphere.

A dynamic Setup through and through

The floor area is distributed across five main and three intermediate levels. The service reception is located on the first floor, around it the garages are arranged in a U-shaped manner. From there an escalator leads up to the sales area welcoming the customer with a double-storey lobby with an integrated café. The lobby connects the showrooms of six car brands along with the departments service, sales and administration. A generous, white flat roof spans across the building as well as the outdoor areas, such as the track or the customer parking lot. The half-steel construction resting only on a few columns guarantees for a light impression and enables an open, transparent interior.

Administration towers above all

Above the roof area you will find the administration department enabling stylish working thanks to the high glass percentage and thus the charming view across the Salzburger Land. The shell of the structure consists of a double-shell element façade. It comprises 1,700 square meters and is distributed into 254 elements. The inner shell consist of a room-high glazing, distributed across individual parts. A rack-less glass-only façade, held at individual points, is what the outside construction is made of, and is separated from the interior through an air gap in between. The exchange of air is enabled through motor-driven ventilation wings, the hidden drive has been developed especially for this project. Inside the façade gap there are maintenance bridges and an electrically operated sun protection.

The Pappas company headquarters has become a technical high-end level building and an architectural pendant of the noble car bodies exhibited inside.