Gambit, a specialist pipe distribution company, commissioned us to design an office-warehouse building that would serve as its unique showcase. Yet we were asked to do it at the lowest possible cost. So we came up with the idea of using the material they trade in, which they could also acquire at cost. At the same time, we wanted the office and warehouse sections to form a unified whole.

 A rectangular production hall once stood on this site, but the immediate surroundings consist of residential houses with steep roofs, often accompanied by long, cubic outbuildings. This inspired the final form of the building. 
 The three main functions of the building are reflected in its form. A two-storey section with sloping walls houses the offices, a lower section serves as the workshop, and the higher cuboid is a warehouse. Initially, we wanted to use Gambit’s pipes, which are typically laid underground, but this proved impossible: they oxidize under UV light. Instead, we chose raw aluminum sheet, which turned out to be even cheaper. 
 The building forms a frontage from the street, while, when viewed from the residential district, its fragmented volume blends into the dispersed context. A crucial achievement for us was to create spatial consistency between functions that are usually difficult to integrate. In most such buildings, the representative office is simply attached to a standard warehouse. Here, everything comes together spatially.