Designboom_UPDATE 06/25/2020: luxury swiss watch company audemars piguet has announced the opening of its new ‘living’ museum designed by bjarke ingels group (BIG) today on june 25th, 2020. bringing history and innovation together under one roof, the spiralling glass structure invites visitors to explore an extensive collection of timepieces alongside in-situ production workshops.

in 2014, BIG won an architectural competition to expand audemars piguet’s historic premises in switzerland. ingels and his team designed a spiral-shaped glass pavilion to complement the company’s oldest building, where jules louis audemars and edward auguste piguet set their workshop in 1875. the spiraling structure appears to rise out of the ground, with floor-to-ceiling glazing offering views across the remote valley in the jura mountains.

designed by BIG, who worked closely on the project with local firm CCHE as well as audemars piguet, the spiral-shaped pavilion rises on walls of structural curved glass. integrated with the landscape, the glazing entirely supports the steel roof, while a brass mesh runs along the external surface to regulate light and temperature. a green roof further helps regulate temperature, while absorbing water.

internally, the floors follow different gradients to adapt to the natural terrain and provide the basis of the museum’s inner layout stretched into a linear continuous spatial experience. the curved glass walls converge clockwise towards the spiral’s center, before moving in the opposite direction. in this way, visitors travel through the building as they would through the spring of a timepiece. ‘watchmaking like architecture is the art and science of imbuing metals and minerals with energy, movement, intelligence and measure to bring them to life in the form of telling time,’ says bjarke ingels.

serving as both a museum and a place of work for audemars piguet’s craftspeople, the design contains traditional workshops where visitors can observe the company’s staff working on the timepieces. spanning over two centuries of history, the museum showcases more than 300 watches, including feats of complication, miniaturization, and unconventional designs.

serving as both a museum and a place of work for audemars piguet’s craftspeople, the design contains traditional workshops where visitors can observe the company’s staff working on the timepieces. spanning over two centuries of history, the museum showcases more than 300 watches, including feats of complication, miniaturization, and unconventional designs.

as part of the same campus, audemars piguet is building a new hotel which plans to open in the summer of 2021. this project has also been designed by BIG with CCHE as local partner.