Herzogenaurach, Germany—The Vault at the Adidas World of Sport sets a new standard in the relationship of office building to campus and employees to work. Rather than sitting on the ground blocking views and impinging movement, the Vault soars 7 meters over the campus level, allowing for green space, air, light, and people to flow underneath. This is fitting as the building must serve both as a center and gateway for the rest of the campus.

The ground floor of the central atrium serves as a communal space and check point for visitors and employees who are entering either the campus or the center. The building’s unprecedented organization of office space allows for almost infinite flexibility over time. The general organizational concept for each zone derives from a center-periphery model: free space can shift from a common space in the center with partitioned rooms around the periphery to common space at the periphery with light partitioned offices clustered at the center. If desired, the floor plate can be entirely cleared of partitions.

Finalist, International Competition

Principals: Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto

Design Team: Michael Overby, Neil Cook, Hilary Simon, Ryosuke Imaeda

Interns and Assistants: Roger Cortes, Xian Lai, Fan Wu, Duygun Inal

Structural Engineer: Florian Gauss, Teufel Engineering

Mechanical Engineer: Stephen Lasser, ARUP New York

Executive Architect: Studio GA

Model Fabricator: Yasuhito Furuyama