European Excellence

The challenge for  Archaus Architects Ltd. was to position two of the worlds most prestigious motor car brands on one site. This was anything but a simple task given the international controls and design standards in place for both brands. The architecture was required to reflect the qualities of each brand as separate, distinctive and apart from each other and their competitors.


Both the Audi and Porsche showrooms have their own individual appearance and the consistency of high quality materials ensure that the two compliment each other. Simple in form and distinctive, due to the articulation of glazed and solid elements.

Porsche Showroom

The identity of the Porsche Marque not only manifests in the cars of unmistakable design, but also in Porsche’s distinctive showrooms. The architectural design has a clearly defined appearance which, associated with the Marque, helps to position its products positively within the customer’s perception and their environment.

All elements and materials are selected from an established framework, which serves as a basis for the project Architect to bring every aspect of the Porsche marquee to life.

A Porsche is always unmistakably a Porsche. This is why Porsche does not follow the frontage design trend of mass marques that use a lot of glass for their frontages in order to be able to show as many of their products as possible. A Porsche centre presents itself in a discreet way, but with a definite high-quality appearance. Only the light slot in the lower frontage allows a selective view of the interior. This increases curiosity and focuses the attention of passers-by on the marquee core and the uniqueness of Porsche sports cars. The cars are presented like individual precious stones in a valuable “jewellery case”.
   
The partially curved facade to the Porsche showroom is an extremely distinctive feature common throughout Porsche showrooms world wide. The glazed entrance “slot” is inviting and its continuation as a horizontal skylight extends the entrance to become a daylight passage in the sales area, creating a unique architectural ambience typical of Porsche. The double height volume presents a sense of space for what is a relatively small footprint. The primary supporting structure consists of visible steel construction.

The combination of the silver interior of the curved main frontage and the black-grey trapezium sheet metal, with perforated side surfaces and acoustically filled cavities, provides optimum soundproofing to the ceiling. The Grey Steel structure and white ceilings provide contrast
creating an architecturally dynamic interior.

The Porsche image is defined by such characteristics as sportiness, performance and exclusivity. The very nature of the product means emotion plays a central role in the vision. This is not only expressed through the quality of design in the cars, but also in the design of the showrooms, which form the stage for displaying the brand.