Administrative building Alcatel

The fertile delta of the Rhine River in the southeastern part of Lake Constance has attracted farmers since time immemorial, the strategic crossroads have drawn merchants, and today this area is trying to establish itself in the field of modern technologies. With the vision of the "Silicon Valley of the Rhine," a technological park aptly named "Millennium Park" was established in the city of Lustenau at the turn of the millennium.
Riding on this wave of success are also the duo of local architects Carlo Baumschlager and Dieter Eberle, who, after studying in Vienna, returned to their native Vorarlberg and sought to build on local craftsmanship rather than adopting the artistic mannerisms of architects. From their office in Lochau near the German border, they were closer to Vaduz, Zurich, or Munich than to the capital of Austria. Among Baumschlager's teachers were the stars of Austrian postmodernism Hans Hollein and Wilhelm Holzbauer, whose influence can be seen in the early projects of b+e. For example, at the headquarters of Alcatel, behind the high-tech outer shell are lavish curves of a circular staircase and doubled structural elements that primarily serve an aesthetic function. A "control tower" with administrative offices levitates on a low pedestal of black glossy tiles, where two methods of shading are combined: fixed metallic horizontal slats and retractable fabric blinds in front of the fully glazed facade. From the outside, these two volumes are clearly separated by a glazed gap. Inside, however, these sections are connected by a generous circular staircase.
Alcatel was one of the first companies in the Millennium Park incubator. Originally a Vienna-based telephone company founded in 1884 as "Czeija & Nissel," it merged with the French telecommunications company Alcatel Alsthom in 1987, which was at its peak at that time. In the early 1990s, it acquired the Italian telecommunications company Telettra and the cable division of the German AEG. In 1998, it began producing its own mobile phones. Alcatel has already passed its period of greatest expansion, as evidenced by the fact that the building in Lustenau is now owned by Amann, a company specializing in coffee roasting.
On the other hand, the architectural office b+e continues to attract interesting clients to Millennium Park in Lustenau. Ten years after Alcatel, they completed an administrative building for the Italian company Saeco (2001-03) on still semi-vacant land. They designed a local branch of the fast-food chain McDonald's (2008). The boldest move by b+e came when they relocated their entire office, including specialists, to the building 2226 (2006-13) in Lustenau, bringing with them cultural and gastronomic life. Their cube-shaped headquarters, measuring 26 meters, benefits from the long-standing experience of b+e, who by that time had already completed more than 300 successful projects.
In May 2014, Alcatel's building was purchased by Amann (established in 1993), a company specializing in coffee roasting, while one of the founding brothers of Amann had a family house built by b+e in Altach (1986), which was one of the first projects by the then-nascent architects. This beautifully closes the circle.