No. 8
slide Magazine for Architecture, Design, Retailer, Trade
Open doors Open people
Management by open door HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF glass patch suspension Hawa Student Award 2012
Contents
Open doors Doors between oceans The gates that connect the Pacific and Atlantic
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Moving doors Few elements of a house are as full of symbolism as the door. The reason is simple: attributes such as «open» and «closed» are also important to us humans. Openness has always been Hawa’s credo. It’s something we practice every day. Take our office doors, for instance. They are only ever closed during meetings. At all other times they indicate to our employees: we are open. To people and ideas. People and ideas are also the focal point of our support for young talent within the scope of the Hawa Student Award 2012. The creativity of the award-winning budding designers in handling sliding hardware systems is inspiring. We want to be door openers for our customers and partners just as we are for architects and designers. As the interview with Otto Haab and the report on live demonstrations at carpentry and glazing companies clearly show: door openers are relevant to success. For all of us.
Gregor and Heinz Haab Managing Directors Hawa AG Sliding Hardware Systems
Topic Doors and door openers Ocean doors: the Panama Canal Symbol of freedom: the Brandenburg Gate Management by open door An interview with Otto Haab Vera Gloor on flowing room concepts
4 6 8 10 12 16
Projects Respectful conversion: Chalet Hauri in Niederried 18 Sophisticated redevelopment: detached home in Bern 20
Know-how Hawa on tour – rubbing shoulders with tradesmen HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF glass patch suspension Hawa Student Award 2012 News Agenda, Personal
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22 24 26 30 31
Hawa Student Award 2012 Young talents, inspiring ideas
Otto Haab «People first, then business.»
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12 Vera Gloor, architect «The user should define the floor plan, not vice versa.»
Glass patch suspension HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF in puristic form
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Open doors
Doors are for opening. And also for closing. From his first steps to the last ones, a human being opens and closes doors many millions of times. They are most effective when they are open. Humans and doors alike.
Small children find doors incredibly mean. Especially when they are closed. Which they usually are. Countless adventures doubtlessly await behind closed doors. Doors open the way to new worlds. But only if the parents open them. If not, a child can do but one thing: scream in protest at the universe and slowly grow towards the door handle. One day the child is able to open the door, only to fall over the threshold and protest with a lump on his forehead about its unfair positioning.
Doors can be vexatious. Later on the child learns what a key is: a toy for accidently locking oneself in the room. Doors can block the way. But a breeze of anticipation fills the house when the doorbell rings. Someone is at the door! Somebody wants something or is bringing something: a present, an invitation to play, glad tidings or bad news. A knock at the door is always followed by an encounter. Doors open.
would much rather have fun discovering it for themselves. There is only one thing they shut out every now and then – and that is themselves. By mistake. Over the course of time some people learn that openness leads to encounters, encounters to relationships, to partnerships, to families. Every step leads to new paths, both private and professional. Every day one opens doors to offices, workshops, restaurants, houses, gardens and hearts.
Doors offer opportunities to live life and to gain experience. Open eyes offer chances to gain insights and understanding. They open up the way to one’s inner self. The way to one’s own creative potential, ideas and productivity. Buds are opening. Of course, some doors open the way to stormy weather. Sometimes one takes the wrong door, makes the wrong private or professional decision. In an ideal world one learns from these mistakes. But every new room a person enters in life adds to his self-assurance. And, if all goes well, he will develop the ability and opportunity to open the door for others who come knocking. Door openers
At some stage the child becomes an adolescent and again falls over a threshold – this time the threshold between adolescence and adulthood. The adolescent defies the world in general and his parents in particular, slamming the door and turning the key, the outside world can go to hell. Doors can protect.
help others grow.
Sooner or later puberty becomes a thing of the past. A young adventurer hungry for life emerges from the teenager’s room. He opens doors to schools and universities. The door to the football stadium, the scratched door on the first second-hand car. Shop doors and airport doors. He discovers doors to role models, mentors and bosses. Doors are for opening. The vast majority of young people don’t want the world to go to hell as they
It could well happen that our former child will one day walk through the door carrying a tiny bundle of joy that is sleeping, smiling or crying. A child that opens up a completely new viewpoint. A child that grows and starts to crawl. A child that finds doors really mean, especially when they are closed, which they usually are, and then screams in protest at the universe and grows as fast as possible towards the door handle ... Doors mean life.
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The door as a symbol Doors and gates are significant metaphors: people open themselves up or shut themselves out, tear doors down, become door openers, slam doors behind themselves or leave them wide open to new experiences. Dreams are «films» of winged words. They visualise the dreamer’s position in life. Doors in dreams often represent an element that connects or separates people. They also symbolise steps into a new area or phase in life. Opening doors indicates opportunities, new approaches to problems, contacts, new liberties to make decisions, encounters and departures to new horizons. On the other hand, they can also represent a loss of protection or a feeling of being exposed to new risks. Anyone dreaming of closed doors may have missed an opportunity. Closed doors can stand for isolation or entrapment, but also for protection and security.
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Open doors
Doors between oceans The locks of the Panama Canal
Each of the 46 lock gates is 25 metres high and weighs 730 tonnes. Once they are closed it takes each chamber a mere eight minutes to fill up with 101,000 cubic metres of water. It carries ships upwards – or downwards, as the case may be. Although the sea level of the Pacific is just 24 centimetres higher than that of the Atlantic, the Gatún Lake, which the Panama Canal crosses over a length of 33 kilometres, lies 26 metres above sea level. The dimensions of the 82 kilometre long canal and its locks leave no room for
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navigation errors. Every captain has to hand over the command of his ship to experienced Panamanian pilots. Cog railways run along each side of the 305-metre-long locks. Locomotives pull the ships through the lock and stabilise them against the currents in the lock chamber whilst the lock is filled and emptied. New, larger locks are expected to commence operations in 2014, effectively doubling the number of ships passing through the canal.
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Open doors
Peace opens doors The Brandenburg Gate
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To the east lies the square known as «Pariser Platz», created in 1733. To the west lies «Platz des 18. März», a square dedicated to the March Revolution of 1848 and the first free elections in the former German Democratic Republic in 1990. Between the two stands a towering, early neo-classical structure reminiscent of the Acropolis of Athens: the Brandenburg Gate, opened in 1791. The 26-metre-high gate made of Elbe sandstone has five archways. The right to use the central and largest thoroughfare was reserved for the royal family until Kaiser Wilhelm II ab
dicated in 1918. From 1961 on, the structure was located in the forbidden zone between East and West Germany. On 22 December 1989, just a few weeks after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate was reopened to the cheers of 100,000 people. The gate is crowned by a sculpted quadriga with Victoria, the goddess of victory, at the reins. The relief above the central archway consists of peace symbols. The symbol of the Cold War has become a symbol of freedom.
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Open doors
The door to the boss’ office An «open door policy» is a firm fixture in the etiquette of many companies. In everyday life an open door can be both advantageous and perfidious.
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Guy Ochsenbein often has an «open door day». «People don’t even bother to knock», says the expert for leadership management. However, if his staff see that the door is shut they know exactly what it means: do not disturb! Ochsenbein is Director of Studies at the School of Business in Olten. As a member of the Management Board he currently has 38 employees who report directly to him. Thanks to his quite literal «open door» policy they can contact the expert directly – even when he really doesn’t have the time. «We experience the concept of the open door with all its pros and cons: it is customer-friendly – and one gets nothing done.» Paul Orfalea, founder of American copyshop chain Kinko's with more than 1,000 branches, minces his words even less: «What’s all this nonsense about open doors? Close the door, otherwise you’ll never finish your work!»
Valuable insights for the CEO
Opening hours of the executive’s office Silvio Inderbitzin, CEO at Spirig Pharma AG, an internationally active Swiss company in Egerkingen, demonstrates that an «open door policy» can indeed work. He has managed the company since 2010, although he has grown with «his» company over many years. Meanwhile, around 300 employees work in Egerkingen alone. He institutionalised the open door to stay in touch with his workforce. His staff can see when the boss is in his office b etween all the various meetings and can use the opportunity to talk to him. Staff at Spirig Pharma AG are meant to speak with their direct superiors first. «But if someone needs to ask a specific question he is more than welcome to come in.» The senior management makes ample use of the opportunity. However, the lower an employee is in the hierarchy, the greater his inhibition threshold to burst into the CEO’s office. Inderbitzin encourages those who would otherwise not come unless invited with a fixed visit session once a month: «Simply knowing the oppor
tunity is there is worthwhile.» The open door is not a short-cut through official channels, but rather additional support when things are urgent.
Workplaces without doors Director of Studies Guy Ochsenbein explains that the significance of the open door has dwindled. There are no doors at all in openplan offices, and colleagues and superiors are often only rarely or irregularly present in modern teams with mobile workplaces. According to Ochsenbein, communication has a different face in this environment: «The open door has been replaced by e-mail.» Electronic media have indeed become important door openers. Knocking on the door and asking questions has similar pros and cons to «open doors», whereby the inhibition threshold to make contact drops. Both sender and recipient need to observe restrictions and rules and apply an awful lot of self-discipline to prevent an unfiltered flow of information from disturbing the workflow.
Open doors have often proved their worth as an emergency exit from corporate hierarchy. «Management by open doors» is sensible simply because it airs a bad atmosphere that arises every now and then. American management consultant Susan M. Heathfield also sees a benefit for the CEO himself: «Thanks to an ‹open door policy› he can gain valuable insights into potentially problematic work procedures, working methods and processes.» No top manager would want to be accused of being aloof or detached from the workforce on the shop floor. The higher the boss, the more he will pride himself on his open door. There is, however, a good chance that it is simply lip service. The open door is often closely monitored by a guard, known as a «dispatcher» in corporate language. There is another well-known precarious aspect: the well-intended sign of an open door can be contra-productive, for instance if employees have the impression that their boss has the door open just to keep an eye on them.
«We experience the concept of the open door with all its pros and cons: it is customer-friendly – and one gets nothing done.»
«If someone needs to ask a specific question he is more than welcome.» Silvio Inderbitzin, CEO Spirig Pharma AG, Egerkingen
Guy Ochsenbein, Director of Studies School of Business, Olten slide No. 8 11
Open doors
Otto Haab, co-founder of Hawa AG
«Listening is important.» «It is people who open doors», says Otto Haab, who – as a former marketing manager – built up Hawa AG together with his brother Karl. His most important insight: successful business relations are always based on an honest interest in one’s dialogue partner and his needs and wants. Can one learn openness? Yes, but you need role models. The course is set in the nursery. For me, it was my parents who were role models. Open communication is simply a must in a farming family with nine children.
How can one «open up» other people for ideas and business relations? By being credible in all we do.
Can one reduce relationships to a purely business-oriented level? No. This would result in pure busyness instead of a business relationship. Furthermore, emotionless busyness does no justice to the human being as the most valuable individual.
How personal and open should or can a business relationship be? That is difficult to generalise. I usually based my decisions on the situation at the time.
Were there any body language signals that you paid attention to? That was of no significance to me. With one exception: I was always wary of people who could not look me in the eye.
Were there any principles of successful communication you liked to rely on? In all immodesty: I prefer practical experience over the many «clever» theories. Of course, I read a lot of related literature. But I have often acted on the basis of intuition and spontaneity. Years of experience and the mistakes I have made have provided me with an expanse of knowledge I can draw from.
Does recognising opportunities boil down to market observation or is there also something like intuition? Of course, my brother Karl and I have observed, analysed and weighed up the risks. We have often put the purely technical as-
pects to one side and listened to our inner voice. We have, I think, a good «nose» for these things.
Is that something one can develop? Marginally at best. Experience can help to assess situations properly. The nose is a gift.
Anyone who wants to sell products needs door openers or to open them himself. Did you ever perceive yourself as an intruder? Actually, yes, I did. But I always tried to learn from early mistakes. It is important to discover the environment and culture of a potential partner and to discreetly find out about his ideas on partnerships.
How pushy can one be? Exactly that is a criterion! One has to listen, be patient, leave the initiative up to one’s counterpart. This ensures one is always awake enough to recognise an open door
And how did you know what to do? It takes intuition and instinct. One has to get in touch with the partner’s «internal nuts and bolts», always with all due interest and respect. This is how successful business relationships often evolve into friendships.
How does one recognise a business partner’s unconscious needs and wants? In the small talk. This is the decisive factor in my opinion. And one doesn’t even have to talk about business, on the contrary: other subjects are important, especially right at the beginning. Listening is of central importance. That brings out the authenticity in people. And that is the platform for all that follows.
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«No medium can replace the personal contact between people.»
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Open doors
through which one is welcome to enter.
What if you are dealing with people who are not really your type? It is true that you cannot always choose your business partner. However, I cannot remember ever having avoided someone because I didn’t like them. The way I deal with others depends first and foremost on how I am as a person.
Can you recall an encounter that turned into a good business relationship? I would like to name the 30th of November 1971 as an occasion. On that day we decided to collaborate with a trading company in a small German town. The director of that company was around 25 years older than my brother Karl and I. He became what could be described as a fatherly friend.
What was the door opener? Mutual trust. He himself said it time and again. And he placed his full trust in us «country boys» right from the start. He lived by his own credo: people first, then business.
But that doesn’t necessarily have to lead to commercial success. No, but it was a prerequisite for the success that then actually did happen. It was thanks to this partnership that we were able to develop so well on the international market. When we handed over the business to our sons we were especially pleased that our 90-yearold guest of honour came to Switzerland for the celebration.
«How I get along with others depends primarily on myself.» What was the decisive key? I had had my business card translated into Japanese. One side was in English, the other in Japanese. It was my way of expressing my respect for my business partners. The way their eyes lit up showed me that they had understood my message.
How did the relationship develop? Well, during my last visit the company owner invited me to dinner at a particularly traditional restaurant. The next day one of his closest and long standing employees said to me that he could not recall the boss ever having invited a supplier to dinner. That was a highlight for me.
Can one maintain a business relationship with Skype and similar tools?
Were there any difficult relationships?
These technologies are at best a supplement, but never a basis. No medium can replace the personal contact between people.
There are always some «difficult» moments with partners. But I couldn’t tell of a really tough situation.
No doubt you have opened doors for other people. What did you have to do?
You have also travelled to Japan. How did you prepare for their culture? I asked my secretary to prepare a «how to behave» manual about the country and its people, its geography and politics, behavioural rules as a guest, how to greet people and exchange business cards.
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It doesn’t take much more than sticking to a few principles: be a good example. Do not be phoney or uptight but rather natural and honest. Do not tolerate half-truths or lies.
What is your approach to the open door policy as a boss? My office door has always been open. I have
always seen it as a bridge between boss and employees. I am no friend of hierarchical thinking. We were always friendly towards one another. And that is how it is today.
How does one remain open and therefore vulnerable after disappointments? I can only speak for myself and the answer is easy: an intact environment. That is, a wonderful wife and an intact family. And a conscious awareness for the important things in life.
Do you place your trust in people so to say in advance? Yes; it wouldn’t work otherwise. A pledge of confidence is always a chance for the other person. I also give people second chances.
How can one open a door for the second time after it has been shut? It is not so difficult when one considers that everyone makes mistakes. And that misunderstandings can always occur. This is where empathy and tolerance are called for.
Was the brotherly relationship an opportunity? Not half! I am very grateful to have had Karl as a brilliant developer and a tolerant and cooperative partner. He left me free rein with regard to tapping into and developing new markets. Together we have been through thick and thin.
Hawa worldwide The first innovations back in the 1960s were growth boosters for Hawa AG. However, the familyowned business stuck to its core competence, namely developing and manufacturing high-quality sliding hardware systems, and concentrated on collaborating with specialist retailers and other reliable partners for distribution. Many partnerships have been a huge win-win situation for decades. Meanwhile, 8 out of every 10 Hawa
Market distribution 2011
sliding hardware systems are exported around the world. Hawa opened its first subsidiary, Hawa Middle East FZE, in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in 2005. Further subsidiaries followed in Doha (Qatar) and Dallas (USA). The desire to be close to the customer and an openness for their wants and needs remain a driving force behind the Swiss family business.
America Europe and the Middle East
10 %
79 %
Asia and Oceania
11 %
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Open doors
Living instead of being lived A room should not define and structure its user’s lifestyle, rather vice versa. That is why Zurich architect Vera Gloor prefers to design open-plan layouts.
Vera Gloor Vera Gloor graduated in drama instruction and architecture and has run her own architect’s office in Zurich since 1994. Her portfolio comprises mainly refurbishment projects for older buildings, but also includes a number of new single family and multi-family wellings. Together with her 16 employees, Vera Gloor takes care of her clients beyond the construction phase with services that include acquisition and financing and even apartment management in the case of multi-family dwellings. 16 slide No. 8
Closeness, walls, barriers: large-scale and densely populated areas along with compact architecture cannot help but create a feeling of spacelessness. Therefore, anyone entering their apartment to embrace a wide expanse of light and air to breathe will feel all the more liberated. Community, withdrawal, work: today’s «life plans» are as varied as the demands we place on how we live. The classic three or four room apartment where each room has a specific function is hardly able to meet these demands.
Enabling openness... It is for this reason that Zurich architect Vera Gloor prefers not to assign specific functions to the rooms she creates. On the contrary, an apartment should create a perception of open space and enable overlapping purposes: «The less a room is defined by fixed ele-
ments, the greater the freedom of the user to define its use and design.» Thanks to the open-plan layout, every few months inhabitants can rearrange the furniture full of relish without being restricted by rigid walls and other structural obstacles. Furthermore, they can adapt their living space as time goes by to better suit the changing conditions of new life phases: a floor plan should revolve around a life plan, not the other way around.
...maintaining privacy Interestingly enough, many inhabitants find it difficult to deal with the sheer boundlessness of their surroundings. When Vera Gloor opened up the small, dark rooms of a multifamily dwelling in Zurich’s Josefstrasse during a conversion project and removed every partition wall in favour of a single large room, she discovered that living without the option to withdraw was not to everyone’s taste. «Everyone needs a little cosiness», says Vera Gloor, «even those who are intentionally looking for an innovative, new way of living». The architect has improved the model. Today, she prefers working with deliberately posi-
The kitchen and the wetroom core are the only fixed elements in this loft. Opening the sliding walls opens up the entire apartment to the beholder.
tioned sliding walls to create partitions. «Inhabitants no longer need to forego privacy thanks to sliding walls. We know from earlier projects with open-plan layouts that many users still want to have a little private space.»
Roominess instead of rooms Vera Gloor designed a six-storey residential and commercial building with a direct view of the railway tracks at Neufrankengasse 22 in Zurich’s 4th district. The building forms a transition between the densely built-up inner city and the vast expanse of the railway sidings. The central core consisting of wetrooms and the kitchen are the only fixed elements in the brace-free lofts of between 120 and 130 m2. Three sliding walls separate the bathroom and bedroom from the living area. That creates withdrawal options without having to miss out on generously flowing transitions. The sliding walls glide on the hardware HAWA-Junior 120/B with a top-fixed suspension profile for applications with very low headroom. This system is renowned for its excellent running properties.
«The less a room is defined by fixed elements, the greater the freedom of the user to define its use and design.» slide No. 8 17
Projects
Respectful conversion A small, confined wooden chalet from the 1970s can still be converted to more generous dimensions even if the building shell cannot be altered. Not least with sliding doors. The weathered house with its remarkable wood carvings is situated high above Lake Brienz and offers an untarnished view of the Bernese alps, as if nothing had changed over the past 40 years. But open the door to the chalet and you will see a new and astoundingly expansive world. Basle-based interior designer Daniel Truffer created this impression primarily by restructuring the floor plan. And by u sing sliding doors. In earlier times, the ground floor housed the wood-carving workshop, the garage and heating system. Today it comprises a spacious living area. A sliding wood door opens up or closes off the kitchen from the living room. The large wooden cube in the middle of the floor conceals kitchen elements and the new staircase to the upper storey. In former times, the two floors were connected by an outside staircase only. What was once the living room on the top floor now serves as a bedroom and office space. A room-high spruce door just under two metres in width opens up the bedroom to the hall. The same applies to the bathroom on the other side of the hall. The unadorned, straightforward wood installations have been skilfully combined with traditional wood carvings, further emphasising the presence of the latter inside the chalet. This keeps the history of the house alive and appreciable at every turn.
When the sliding doors are open, the bedroom/office space, bathroom, hallway and staircase on the top floor appear as a single spacious room.
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Project: Chalet Hauri Location: Niederried Country: Switzerland Interior designer: Daniel Truffer, Wohnbedarf AG Basel, Basle Realization: von Allmen AG, Holzbau, Ringgenberg Building owners: Ana and Andreas Hauri Completion: 2010 Hawa systems: HAWA-Junior 80/B, HAWA-Junior 120/B Intention: Sliding doors Quantity: 3 Material: Spruce wood slide No. 8 19
Projects
Sophisticated comprehensive restructuring A four-roomed house over eighty years old can be more than large enough for a young family of three – if it is as intelligently restructured as the small chalet on the outskirts of Bern.
Double function
Sliding the door across the gangway opens up a view of the built-in shelves in the living room. The sliding door basically doubles up as a room-high, room-separating partition wall.
A house of modest dimensions in a residential area of Bern, embedded in a row of other chalets, clad in dark cement asbestos shingles, with a large roof overhang and veranda. This is how the house looked before the conversion. The small living room was a confined space; access to the small veranda was through the small kitchen next to the entrance door – in short: everything was small.
Entering the house today, one walks into a generous, open-plan living and dining area. The veranda has been replaced by a projecting extension. This has made the ground floor significantly larger and brighter; the rooms are grouped around a central spatial structure with fittings, shelves, storage space, toilet and kitchen appliances. The central core also houses the sliding door that separates the kitchen from the living room.
Additionally, the architects raised the roof ridge but left the eaves at the same height. The roof now has a steeper pitch and a large dormer that represents a visual counterpart to the extended living space. There was even enough space for an additional bathroom in the reconstructed loft. This has turned the small, four-roomed house into a veritable family dwelling.
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It was obvious to the experts from Bernese W2H Architects that the floor layout needed opening up.
Openness and expanse surround the central core with its functional living elements.
Project: Detached home Location: Bern Country: Switzerland Architect: W2H Architekten AG, Bern Realization: Schreinerei Geiser AG, Bern Building owner: Private Completion: October 2010 Hawa systems: HAWA-Junior 80/B, HAWA-Junior 120/B Intention: Sliding doors, partition wall Quantity: 3 Material: Wood
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Know-how
Hawa on tour
Aha experiences Hawa expert Sepp Marfurt has been visiting carpentry and glazing companies in German-speaking Switzerland since mid 2011 to give employees a live demonstration of how to install and use Hawa sliding hardware systems. This new knowledge has proven to be a real competitive advantage for the tradesmen.
«One can always learn how to work with a specific piece of Hawa hardware from the technical documentation», says Christoph Frutiger of the Frutiger carpentry company in Bönigen, «but a live demonstration is of course much better.» Christoph Frutiger uses Hawa hardware, in particular for wood and glass solutions for sliding doors and for cabinet installations. 10 of his 13 employees participated in the presentation – as many as possible were to benefit from the knowledge of the technical consultant from Hawa.
glazers often add products and solutions revolving around sliding hardware systems to their programme following a visit from Sepp Marfurt. And they often include systems that were previously unavailable in their repertoire. Their customers appreciate the extended competence and comprehensive offering – a clear competitive advantage for the tradesmen.
Sepp Marfurt often sees creative solutions when visiting carpentry workshops and glazing specialists. Some of these pearls have found their way into the Hawa reference list at www.hawa.ch or this Hawa magazine. This is where they become an attractive advertising platform for participating tradesmen, architects and building owners.
«A live demonstration is of course much better.» Christoph Frutiger, Frutiger Schreinerei GmbH
Sepp Marfurt, the master and presenter of the sliding hardware systems in the mobile «Hawa Showroom», enjoys the contact with tradesmen. They, on the other hand, appreciate his visit. «I can share a lot of technical knowledge, trigger ‹aha› experiences and take a lot of positive feedback home with me». The technical consultant has already visited many companies and technical colleges, and many more are on his schedule. «Object-based training» is in demand: once they have seen a demonstration, most tradesmen are able to pick the right solution from the Hawa range of around 100 sliding hardware systems for wood, glass and metal applications. After all, it can be difficult to find the time in everyday working life to look in depth at the one or other new or different system that may also be of interest. «Hawa on tour» brings new knowledge directly to Switzerland’s craftsmen. Carpenters and
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Practical electronic tools at www.hawa.ch Sepp Marfurt also likes to spend a few minutes explaining the services available at www.hawa.ch. The HAWA-Productfinder is a practical advisor and the HAWA-Systemplanner a clever design assistant. These two tools make it easy for carpenters and glazers to evaluate and plan the use of sliding hardware systems more efficiently. Experience shows: everyone who discovers the website works with it. slide No. 8 23
Know-how Rubrik
HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF
Nothing but glass Fastening screws and functional components are not to be seen. All that is visible is glass, with discreet profiles or elegant, flush patch suspension. The sliding hardware system HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF with point-fixing glass suspension creates functional cabinets in puristic perfection.
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Large-surface sliding glass doors designed to practically cover an opening end to end are available in four designs with HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF: with horizontal or vertical profiles that, when combined, provide an unadorned frame effect, or as a puristic variant with pointfixing glass suspension. The glass suspension is unrivalled in two regards: firstly, it is hard to imagine that the purism of this elegant design could in any way be enhanced, and, secondly, Hawa alone offers a hardware system for glass fronts of up to 4 m2. «As little as possible» was the premiss for the development of the HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF. «End to end» really is what it means with this form of patch suspension for sliding glass doors. The distance between the glass door and the ceiling or floor is a mere 30 mm. The only perceptible elements are the four or six form-fitting and flush patch suspension fittings at the top and bottom. Other fastening screws or functional elements are not to be seen.
Top tracks and bottom guide channels are hidden behind a cover, either plain anodised or painted in the colour of the furniture. The optional soft closing mechanisms are discreetly fitted to the left and right of the cabinet body. HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF can support 8 mm thick toughened safety glass doors weighing up to 80 kg. Cabinet doors measuring up to 4 m2 are possible. Glass has a tendency to bend when it reaches dimensions of this nature – an effect that today is easily avoidable with the optional alignment hardware for the interior glass surface. Its steel cables can be arranged diagonally or vertically to offer two more attractive design variants. Additionally, glass doors can also be fitted with matching handles or combined with wood doors that slide just as quietly on HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF. This intelligent system definitely makes any cabinet a stylistic eye-catcher.
Optional alignment hardware, two mounting variations for large- surface heavy glass doors to counteract bending.
Well thought-out HAWA-Antea 50-80/VF is perfect for • Doors weighing up to 50 or 80 kg per leaf • Door widths of 800 – 1500 mm • Door heights up to 2600 mm • Door surfaces up to 4 m2 • Door thicknesses of 8 mm for toughened safety glass (ESG) • 30 mm distance to floor and ceiling • Fronts made of glass, wood or a wood/glass combination • Design-oriented, generous cabinet fronts without distracting plinths and ceiling connection joints • Amazingly simple installation • High-quality interior finishings in high-end private and commercial rooms, hotels, schools, clinics, museums, universities, administration buildings and banks slide No. 8 25
Know-how
Hawa Student Award 2012
Living in urban niches Extending a property under the aspect of consolidation – this was the task presented to the participants in the second Hawa Student Award, which for the first time was open to international submissions. 78 projects were submitted. The award ceremony took place in Zurich on 1 March 2012. There was a clear winner – and seven awards for other entries.
be attractive to families, couples and singles as well as apartment-sharing communities. They should also be as versatile as possible.
Free space in cities is becoming increasingly limited and costly due to urban growth. The answer: condensed construction.
The Hawa Student Award 2012 was the second time that Hawa AG invited budding architects to develop room concepts with highquality living conditions combined with good spatial efficiency. It is the first time that the award, with its prize money of 12,000 Swiss Francs, was open to international participation among students from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The subject of «Living in urban niches» is intended to encourage the exploration of sustainable spatial development: utilising
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rban niches for habitation purposes through u consolidating and condensing whilst offering maximum living quality through flexible room concepts. The concrete task presented to the participants was to design a redevelopment project for an old residential house with studio apartments. The selected house was located in a part of Zurich that has evolved in a manner that is typical for many inner cities in Europe: the development into a trendy urban quarter for living and working with coveted but limited options for residential buildings. The accommodation units to be designed should
A jury of five evaluated the basic architectural idea, the overall atmospheric impression and the degree of innovation with regard to spatial convertibility. «FREIRAUM», as the winning project is named, points up an important criterion for habitation concepts in densely populated urban areas, says Anke Deutschenbaur, member of the jury and Head of Slide Studio at H awa AG. «Optimum spatial efficiency and the associated overlapping modes of utilisation should not restrict the inhabitants’ quality of life in any way. Innovative room concepts should create free space – despite close quarters.» «Encouraging and supporting young talent is of importance to Hawa», says managing director Heinz Haab. «These young designers work creatively with our sliding hardware systems. We can all benefit from mutual inspiration.»
The jury Andrea Deplazes, Architect ETH/BSA, Chur Ernst Giselbrecht, Dipl.-Ing. Architect, Graz Michael Schumacher, Dipl.-Ing. Architect, Frankfurt on the Main and Vienna Heinz Haab, Managing Director, Hawa AG, Anke Deutschenbaur, Head of Slide Studio, Hawa AG
Maximilian Illing Staatliche Akademie der bildenden Künste Stuttgart
«FREIRAUM» Rigid static walls are replaced by cabinet elements that move on rails over the length of an axis. They form the functional core of the apartments. This makes the room sizes variable: the result is significantly more room with the
Sliding elements replace rigid walls. The result is variable rooms that are easily divided into different zones to create more space.
same spatial conditions. The rooms adapt to how the day is structured and to the requirements of the inhabitants. The sliding elements have holding space for furniture such as the bed, table and chairs, which are taken out as and when needed. A set of shelves the length of the room separates functional areas such as wetrooms and entrance area.
46 m2 classic floor plan of a 50 m2 apartment.
90 m2 flexible floor plan with two sliding elements.
Team David Eickhorst and Sven Petersen Leibniz Universität Hannover
«251286» The new storeys consist of convertible living boxes with three levels and drawer-like sliding ceilings. Only the lower level containing the entrance, wet room and kitchenette is fixed. Six different room situations are possible. A 45 degree rotatable staircase provides access. Opening a section of the window facade turns the «drawer» into a small balcony.
Team Julia Naumann and Max Wasserkampf Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
«7412» The central sanitary wall that supplies the apartment with power and water is the only fixed element. Kitchen and sanitary installations can be fitted to either side of the wall. The entire living space is convertible thanks to folding
sliding partition walls; individual rooms can be separated as required. A room-high cabinet wall around the perimeter offers generous storage space. The concept allows the apartments on one floor to be combined.
Know-how
Team Sebastian Felix Ernst, Malte Kloes, Sven Rickhoff and Martin Tessarz ETH Zürich
«Enfilade» Creating a sequence of rooms with opposing doors is reminiscent of the old master builders of the baroque era. Variable sliding walls enable the inhabitants to adapt the size and spatial arrangement of the apartments to suit their requirements. Individual rooms and even entire apartments can be combined and separated. The barn-like folding doors in the facade allow the inhabitants to adjust the light incidence and regulate the degree of exposure or intimacy of each room.
Team Michael Fehlmann and Benjamin Minder ETH Zürich
«Store It !» The floor plan is based on the principle of individual functions that overlap during the course of the day. The central cabinet-like element contains the utilities for various aspects of habitation. Activities such as relaxing, cooking, working and sleeping overlap spatially but are activated at different times, making extremely efficient use of the available compact space.
Team Marc Frochaux and Florian Rochat ETH Zürich and EFP Lausanne
«Offenes Spiel» Apart from the generous entrance area with bathroom and storeroom, these apartments consist of a single, open-plan room. The wooden cube at the centre with shelves and cabinets on the outside contains the kitchen. The entire
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wooden cube can be closed off by four long sliding walls. When extended, the walls form three rooms of different sizes and a hallway. Folding sliding shutters on the façade provide the appropriate amount of daylight.
Team Valentin Lang and Simon Schoch ETH Zürich
«Mise en place» Free-standing «wall figures» indicate individual rooms and make them utilisable. The open plan-layout with flexible room partitioning enables various uses. One can, for instance, walk around the entire perimeter of the apartment with an unobstructed view through the glass façade. Sliding elements can be moved to create personal space for withdrawal. A steel cable network delimits the circumferential external space and acts as a filter to the neighbourhood.
Team Claudia Falconí, Naghmeh Hajibeik and Maite Kittelmann Leibniz Universität Hannover
Convertible Six Argentinian students of architecture and industrial design received awards for their submissions on the subject of convertible houses. Hawa AG and the «Sociedad Central de Arquitectos» SCA together launched a national award for young talents on the subject of «The Changeable House». The task was to develop a dynamically designed building on the basis of a single family dwelling that could, for instance, be used as an architect’s studio by day and as a comfortable home during the evening and night. Participants were asked to make use of innovative sliding solutions. In the eyes of the jury, the winning projects sounded out the options of flexible room design in a well thought-out manner.
The winners of the young talent prize in Argentina (f.l.t.r.): Daniel Encinas and Matías Vallespir, 3rd prize Guido Aybar Maino and Lisandro Villanueva, 1st prize Federico Valverdi and Claudio De Brasi, 2nd prize
«MOVE_ein balkon zur stadt» The upper level of these two- storey housing modules is designed as a slidable stage and serves as sleeping quarters, working space and even as a balcony, depending on its position. The level moves up and down on cogged tracks across
Supporting young talent in Argentina
the length of the room and can be moved in front of the façade. A travelling staircase guarantees accessibility at any position. Electrical connections and plumbing are located in the stationary rear section of the module.
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Know-how
News
Performance specifications
Profiles for stationary glass
Closing mechanism SoftMove 80
HAWA-Concepta 25/30/50
Performance worth copying
Rubber profile for 8 mm glass
Top marks for top quality
Body and side connections
Performance specifications for more than 50 Hawa products in four languages have been available for downloading from the Products category of the Hawa Productfinder at www.hawa.ch since December 2011. Downloads in Word format are available in German, English, French and Spanish.
Hawa now offers a rubber profile for stationary glass panels with thicknesses of 8 – 9.9 mm. They are designed for the following hardware systems:
Kitchen industry and tradesmen alike often install the pivot/slide-in hardware HAWA-Concepta 25/30/50 with the doors resting against the cabinet body. The new body and side connector now makes implementation even easier.
Partners in the USA can also download English language performance specifications in CSI format.
The following new supplementary components are available with immediate effect:
German quality authority TÜV Rheinland Landesgewerbeanstalt LGA Products in Nuremberg put the soft closing mechanism SoftMove 80 for HAWA-Junior 80 systems through its paces during a stress test of 100,000 cycles. The SoftMove 80 worked just as well after the test as it did before. In recognition, SoftMove 80 was awarded the corresponding certificate for the highest Quality Class 6. Of equally high quality is the response from architects, tradesmen and building owners who have already made use of the SoftMove 80. They decided in favour of the SoftMove 80 because they preferred not to rely on a conventional pneumatic soft closing system, but rather on a high-quality, hydraulic oil-filled metal unit. Or, to put it simply: on Hawa quality.
These specially prepared documents offer support for architects, designers and general contractors in the form of performance speci
fication templates for new build ings or refurbishments. This source of information makes it easier for the specifier to include the entire technical specifications for the planned sliding solution in the planning phase right from the start.
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• HAWA-Puro 100–150 • HAWA-Junior 40-80-120/GP • HAWA-Junior 40-80/GL • HAWA-Junior 80-120/G
• Rubber profile, black (article number 23135) • Floor/wall glass retainer in plain anodised aluminium (article number 23137) • Floor/wall glass retainer in aluminium with a stainless steel effect (article number 23138) This makes dry glazing possible for stationary glass with thicknesses of 8 – 9.9 mm as well as 10 – 12 mm.
The Connector allows uniform front designs with regard to joint patterns. Screws are invisible and body cutouts unnecessary as the Connector is fastened directly to the top tracks and bottom guide channels. The body and side connecting element is available as a Connector 55 mm for a single pivot/slide-in door made of glass or wood and attached on one side, or as a Connector 110 mm for two wood doors in the same recess. Together with HAWA-Concepta 25/30/50, it forms a comprehensive modular system.
Agenda
Personal
Nordbygg 2012 Scandinavia’s most important trade show for the construction industry. www.nordbygg.com
20. – 23.3.2012 Hawa
Stockholm International Fairs, Sweden Hall C, Stand 09:21
fensterbau frontale 2012 International trade show with around 1,200 exhibitors for technology, components and construction element for windows, doors and façades. www.frontale.de
21. – 24.3.2012 Hawa
Messezentrum Nuremberg, Germany Hall 4, Stand 123
Schreiner 12 / Menuisier 12 Trade show for Swiss cabinetmakers where more than 100 exhibitors present the latest developments from the fields of hardware, tools, machines and software.
19. – 21.4.2012 Hawa 26. – 27.4.2012 Hawa
Tenniszentrum Grindel, Bassersdorf, Switzerland Hall 2, Stand 53
«In a good team one’s own interests sometimes have to take a back seat.»
Palais de Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland Hall 10, Stand 21
52-year-old Max Bucher was appointed Director Commercial Business International at Hawa AG at the beginning of August 2011. He and his well-oiled team take care of the company’s c ommercial business partners.
Project Qatar 12 International trade show for construction technology, building materials and environmental technology. www.projectqatar.com
30.4. – 3.5.2012
Hawa
Qatar International Exhibition Centre Doha, Qatar Hall 5, Stand V79
Architect@Work Specialist trade show for architects, engineering offices and interior designers. www.architectatwork.nl
12. – 13.9.2012 Hawa
Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands Stand 135
Legal notice Magazine for Architecture, Design, Retail, Trade
SLIDE, No. 8, march 2012, is published twice per year Published by/Copyright Hawa AG Sliding Hardware Systems, CH-8932 Mettmenstetten, slide@hawa.ch, subject to modification Project responsibility Rolf Arnold, Anke Deutschenbaur, Doris Hug Concept/Editing/Design Basel West Unternehmenskommunikation AG, CH-4012 Basle; Editor: Willi Näf, Claudio Zemp; Design: Thomas Aerni, Frédéric Giger; Lithography: Yvette Bolliger Printed by Engelberger Druck AG, CH-6370 Stans Languages/Circu lation German 5,500, French 2,500, English 4,800 Picture credits Page 1: Simon Marcus/Corbis/Specter; Page 2: Frédéric Giger; Pages 2, 6, 7: Danny Lehman/Corbis/Specter; Pages 3, 12 – 14, 22, 23: Marcel Studer; Pages 3, 16, 17: Hanspeter Wagner; Page 5: Corbis/Specter; Pages 8, 9: Dallas and John Heaton/Corbis/Specter; Pages 18, 19: Bruno Helbling; Pages 20, 21: Manu Friederich Article No. 22044
The graduate electrical engineer HTL (nowadays FH) and federally accredited sales manager brings with him decades of experience as a developer, project manager, product manager and sales manager. His intention is to continue aligning activities with the wants and needs of the market and to further strengthen a sustainable cooperative partnership with customers. «It is a goal we share as a team, and that is why we want to achieve it together.» Max Bucher likes to spend his leisure time with his family. He also has an interesting mix of hobbies: traditional carnival celebrations, wine, jogging, skiing, tennis and Kendo, a Japanese martial art centred around sword fighting.
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Hawa Schiebebeschläge: offen für grenzenlosen Komfort. Hawa sliding hardware: open for unlimited convenience.
You can lean back little mitdenkt, more if youkann haveman a partner who thinks their feet. Hawa AG has for many Wenn manafford einentoPartner hat,a der sich selbst eheron einmal etwas zurücklehnen. Die decades not only practiced the viel art of thinking on nicht its feet, also of thinking ahead reflective thinking. Hawa AG legt seit Jahrzehnten Wert darauf, nurbut mit-, sondern auch nach-and und vorzudenken. AfterInnovation all, innovation a long tradition inund our Entwicklungsabteilung department for research and development. And that Denn hat inhas unserer ForschungsTradition. Und somit können wir is why heute we areSchiebebeschlagsysteme able to provide you todayund with-lösungen sliding hardware solutions virtually Anwendung, any situation,Dimension application, Ihnen für praktisch jedefor Situation, dimension location. startsbei at www.hawa.ch. www.hawa.ch. und Lokalitätand anbieten. IhrConvenience Komfort beginnt Hawa AG, CH-8932Mettmenstetten, Mettmenstetten,Schweiz, Switzerland, 44 767 91 91, www.hawa.ch Hawa AG, CH-8932 Tel. Tel. +41 +41 44 767 91 91, FaxFax +41+41 44 44 767767 9191 78,78, www.hawa.ch