Center of Excellence COE

With the Center of Excellence, DaimlerChrysler has created a first-class customer center in Sindelfingen. It was obvious to design the premises with discreet elegance, with that certain something that distinguishes the new product series of Mybach automobiles.

Water is the medium that connects the new Center of Excellence with the already built customer center. With its reflection on the surface of the water, the complex appears to float on the water. To enter the main reception area, visitors cross a narrow walkway that leads inside. Rainwater from the roofs feeds the central pond. Without any chemical treatment in an ecologically and economically sound system, the water circulates in two separate circuits, one for clarification and the other to reduce stagnation zones in the pond. The purification biotope consists of a layer of sand granules on which flowering marsh plants have been planted. The vegetation helps to bind phosphates and nutrients, and provides the water with additional oxygen.

Wall elements and window openings allow views from the water into the building and vice versa. The gently curving, natural line of the attractively planted beach provides a pleasant counterbalance to the simple building form. A counterpoint to the main reception area is formed by a water cascade that descends in steps to the pond. Refractions of light, reflections and active movements give the building the atmosphere of the quiet vitality of water.