A Subtle Festival of Colours for the New Police Building in Winterthur, Switzerland

A contribution by Isabelle Camenzind

Isabelle Camenzind, as an ETH graduated architect and brand ambassador of Les Couleurs Le Corbusier, stands for everyday, timeless architecture in every scale. From building renovation and new constructions to interior design, furniture design and colour counseling. Always with the goal of creating an atmospheric, inspiring atmosphere and emphasizing the quality of the rooms with selected materials and colours in the long term.

If you walk closer to the new building of the Winterthur city police, the first thing that you will notice – in addition to the fine colour gradient of the facade concrete elements – the striking coloured glasses by the artist Beat Streuli.

Beat Streuli was selected on the occasion of a two-stage art competition in 2017 in order to enrich the representative new building with "Metropolis" – and to strengthen its perception by both the city police and the population. The artist has created transparent motifs taking inspiration from daily life in Winterthur. These elements have been integrated into the window panes with coloured areas, and are thus ingeniously integrated into the architectural design concept.

Colour accents that blend & harmonize

Inside, further fine colour accents enliven the house. Colourful carpets expand the variety of colours. Oliv Brunner Volk Architects have selected four shades in medium to darker shades of lightness from the PERLON RIPS palette by the carpet manufacturer ANKER and the timeless colour palette by the architect Le Corbusier (Architectural Polychromy) from 1931 and 1959.

Anker is a long-standing specialist in woven carpets, dedicated to the creation and production of textile floor design. The carpets naturally blend in with the concrete surfaces of the house, harmonize with the terrazzo floor and the dark green window and door frames.

The different colours of the woven, matt shimmering velor carpet emphasize individual rooms and create catchy colour moods that are accentuated by the sunlight and the coloured window surfaces.

The English green ("Vert anglais") from Le Corbusier's colour palette is a darker, calm forest green with a slightly cool undertone, which makes the light concrete walls shine wonderfully with their fine warm gray tone. The contrast in brightness between the velvet floor and the concrete surfaces of the walls, but also the concrete floor frieze, is extremely attractive and pleasing to the eye.

In another room, the dark, glowing, velvety ruby red ("Le rubis") with the coloured glasses creates a unique atmosphere. The contrast to the lighter concrete surfaces gives the powerful carpet a special radiance and emphasizes the elegance of the room with the dark-framed windows.

On the other hand, the dark shade of gray ("Gris foncé"), in combination with the coloured glass and the sunlight, is just like a mysterious chameleon: sometimes the floor appears reservedly elegant, sometimes extravagant in a fine violet or cyan tone, coloured by the art of the window glasses.

The perspectives in the house allow the Architectural Polychromy – the colour palette of architect Le Corbusier – to take shape: the visual references to neighbouring rooms, from which the different carpet colours shine through, make it possible to experience the colour compositions in their entirety.

The woven fabrics of the acoustic elements that decorate the walls round off the theme of attractive colour tones in a gentle way and make a visit to the new city police building a colourful experience.

Isabelle Camenzind, ETH graduated architect, Isabelle Camenzind Architektur und Interior Design former collaborator of Oliv Brunner Volk Architekten GmbH

Project: New police building Obermühlestrasse, Winterthur
Builder: City of Winterthur
Architecture: Oliv Brunner Volk Architekten GmbH, Zürich
Project management: GMS Partner AG Baumanagement
Floor: ANKER Gebr. Schoeller GmbH + Co. KG
Pictures: Eliane Rutishauser, LeeLi Photography and Oliv Brunner Volk Architekten GmbH