The manufacturer has developed a new production process for rounded corners for an ensemble of buildings designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Fine lines and curves characterize the façade made of Moeding ceramic tiles on the building ensemble in Vienna. Photo: Michel Denancé
Moeding produced a total of 60,000 individual parts for the façade surfaces. Photo: Michel Denancé
The ceramic façade in combination with aluminum and glass is intended to create a design transition between the historic Arsenal building to the south and the glass façades of the contemporary Erste Campus to the north. Photo: Michel Denancé
Ceramic façade with rounded corners
In Vienna, Italian architect Renzo Piano has planned a building with five residential and hotel towers in the new Quartier Belvedere district. It comprises 346 park apartments and 303 hotel rooms, which only start on the fourth floor. The entire building is elevated on nine-metre-high pylons to provide sweeping views and avoid the noise of the city. Originally, a massive single building was planned for the site. The column construction and the partially open design now allow flexible floor plans, views in several directions as well as visual and noise protection.
The uniform façade design is intended to create a coherent overall appearance across the entire building. In addition to aluminum and glass, the architects at RPBW used filigree, horizontally curved ceramic panels from Moeding. They frame the windows in soft shapes and create rounded building corners. The light gray of the tiles plays with the light and changes from gray to reddish to bluish depending on the incidence of light. The window front is thus visually broken up. Moeding produced a total of 60,000 individual parts in six sizes and 562 ceramic corners in 32 different grades for the façade surfaces. Based on the Alphaton system, the façade is suspended and rear-ventilated. Strabag Metallica built it in one year.