Beyeler Museum

The building carcass, a reinforced concrete skeleton structure, is a combination of structural supports and in some cases massive outer walls. This is spanned by the steel construction of the glass roof. The roof, a multi-layer design, fulfills a wide variety of functions: weather protection, guidance and control of light and climate-related functions.

Arguably one of the most prominent features of the new building is the very subtly designed cladding of the massive building sections with small natural stone slabs of Argentine porphyry. The naturally split surfaces and the lively reddish color form a wonderful contrast with the bright color of the glass roof, which appears to be floating.

The construction of this building was made possible by the will of the collector couple Hildy and Ernst Beyeler to keep their collection in the Basel region.

Design and construction planning: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Paris/Genova.

Coordination, construction, costing and scheduling: Burckhardt+Partner AG, Architects General Planners, Basel.

Concepts for support structures and energies, including daylight planning: Ove Arup International, London / Cyrill Burger & Partner AG, Basel / Elektrizitäts AG, Basel / J. Forrer AG, Buchrain / Bogenschütz AG, Basel.

The functional implementation of this demanding architecture required extensive coordination of all planners across the various national borders – an important function of Burckhardt+Partner AG. This was possible thanks to partnership-based collaboration of all specialist planners involved in planning and construction.