Craftsmanship in non-ferrous metal

For an art collection, a new building has been processed with a total of more than 70 tons of Nordic Royal non-ferrous metal in various customized sheet dimensions. Nordic Royal is an alloy of copper, aluminum and zinc. Initially very similar to Nordic Brass or brass, the latter oxidizes naturally over time. Nordic Royal, on the other hand, retains most of its golden color. For a vibrant surface, the alloy has been finished with a non-directional swirl grind (Dekot 1150).

This golden new building stands in stark contrast to the existing first building of the art collection with its raw, almost sculptural façade of beige shell limestone.

Krapf AG was responsible for the entire exterior façade and the roof area, executed with arch elements made of Nordic Royal non-ferrous metal sheets. Krapf AG was also responsible for all large windows in the exterior façade, including shading, the main entrance/window with rotating vertical louvers made of brass and arched glass, the air-lux front with curved glass in the basement, large skylights including shading systems, as well as doors and other glazing.

Our performance

• 2'400 m2 exterior facade
• 1'999 pieces of half-shell sheet metal
• 3,000 m2 of brass sheets
• 35'200 kg of brass sheets
• Sheet length from 230 to 4'980 mm
• 3 different types of half shells in width 444, 550 and 668mm
• 3 different special half-shells as double corrugated sheets
• All half-shells were glued to ALU base plates SSG in the factory
• Logistics, special packaging stacking by means of foam interlayer

Construction Facts

Construction phase: 2020 / 2021
Architecture / construction management: Senn Architekten, Pfäffikon SZ
Facade planning: Emmer Pfenniger Partner AG
Project management Krapf AG: Daniel Markwalder
Photos: ®Olaf Rohl, Hamburg