- Project: Kirsch Pharma HealthCare
- Architect: SAOTA
- Location: Germany, Wedemark
- Year: 2022
- Area: 8000 m2
- Photography: Adam Letch
In Wedemark, Germany, South African architecture studio SAOTA has delivered a visionary headquarters and production facility for Kirsch Pharma HealthCare GmbH—a company specializing in the production of pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements. This striking industrial project defies convention, transforming the expectations of factory and office architecture with sculptural presence, bold material contrasts, and a deeply humanized spatial experience.
Reimagining the Industrial Prototype
Set in a nondescript industrial zone, the project was approached with a clear ambition: to stand as an architectural statement in an otherwise anonymous landscape. Rather than conform to generic forms, SAOTA conceived a facility that is at once functional and symbolic, embodying the innovation, precision, and care that define Kirsch Pharma HealthCare’s mission.
The project comprises two distinct yet harmonized components:
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A state-of-the-art production facility
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A client-facing office and reception building that articulates the company’s identity
Efficient Function Meets Expressive Form
The factory building, dictated by efficiency and technical performance, is a monolithic rectangular structure clad in light grey steel cassette panels. Below, a contrasting layer of graphite grey trapezoidal sheeting subtly reduces the visual mass, while incised lines break up the façade to add texture and rhythm.
Positioned to allow future expansion, the factory functions as the operational core of the site—clean, precise, and modular.
An Office That Elevates Identity and Experience
In contrast, the adjacent office and reception building is a sculptural beacon, distinguished by a dynamic, angular canopy that wraps the glazed façade. This bold canopy:
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Echoes the company’s logo and brand colors
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Guides visitors to the entrance
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Brings human scale and warmth to the industrial setting
Its graphite-colored zinc cladding contrasts with a vivid red powder-coated soffit, a bold gesture that continues into the interior, forming a feature backdrop wall behind the reception desk. This unexpected warmth and playfulness signals the company’s commitment to both technological excellence and personal wellbeing.
“The canopy is a graphic symbol of speed, confidence, and innovation,” notes SAOTA. “It tells a story while enhancing user experience.”
Transparency, Light, and Flexibility
The office building’s triple-glazed curtain wall allows for maximum daylight, softening the transition from exterior to interior. The reception area, conference room, and boardrooms are designed as flexible, open-plan event spaces that can adapt for client receptions or team gatherings.
While most industrial buildings are inward-looking, this office turns outward—embracing views of the landscaped site and capturing the changing light of the day, bringing a natural rhythm to the working environment.
Interior and Landscape Synergy
Internally, the design emphasizes flexibility and clarity. Circulation is fluid, and natural light penetrates deeply, offering both comfort and connection to the outside world. The interiors, designed to balance refinement and utility, use a restrained palette accented by the canopy’s signature red hue, creating a cohesive visual identity from the façade to the foyer.
Landscaping complements the architecture with park-like softness, contrasting the grey-toned industrial context and anchoring the project in a calm, natural frame.
Advancing the Language of Industrial Architecture
The Kirsch Pharma HealthCare by SAOTA headquarters pushes the limits of what industrial architecture can be. It is functional, efficient, and scalable, but it is also artful, expressive, and responsive—telling a story of innovation through architectural form, material palette, and spatial narrative.
By merging technological precision with emotional resonance, the project serves as a beacon of progressive industrial design, and a fitting new identity for a global healthcare brand.
Drawings
