ARCHITECTURE


The Musée Würth France Erstein is located immediately adjacent to the headquarters of Würth France, next to the company’s landscaped grounds.

 

© Photo François Faton


The contrast between the two buildings underpins the architectural project of the Lyon-based firms run by Jacques and Clément Vergély: the transparency of the glass building housing the headquarters forms a counterpoint to the opaque geometry of the museum’s rough-finished concrete walls.


The building consist on three rooms : the monumental nave on the ground floor and the two attractive spaces upstairs provide a total exhibition area of 800 m2. The technical lighting design was the work of Marc Fontoynont. His aim is to allow the maximum use of natural light in the galleries.

 

The elegant grounds, designed by Martine Rascle, were given the French Arbre d’Or award for landscaped gardens in 2000. The garden covers 5 hectares and offers multiple perspectives, both from afar and up close. On the scale of the Alsace plain, the grounds provide a wooded sanctuary for wildlife amongst the fields. Within the gardens themselves, there is a series of spaces, running from severe stone to natural exuberance, from the most visible to the most secret places, from the brightest to the shadiest corners.

 

© Photo Martine Rascle

The different species form a dense yet varied wooded enclosure, providing shelter for birds and a haven of peace for people. The foliage of the trees is pierced by a “lightning bolt” lake, which concentrates the light and gives structure to the grounds.