The intervention was built in Basel, on the site of the old Warteck brewery, on the right bank of the Rhine.
The complex of the brewery was built between 1890 and 1935 and it included a silo, a
warehouse, the actual brewery and a water tower.
No other industrial institution has characterized Basel as much as the Warteck beer factory: it is one of the last examples of industrial architecture in the heart of the city. The area was due to become a big residential and commercial area.
The architects of the office Diener&Diener decided to approach the traditional Blockrandbebauung, a way to keep an existing industrial complex with new constructions.
The aim of the project was indeed to conserve and reuse part of these high-quality industrial structures, integrating them both with a new residential and office complex. The new intervention is composed of two parts: a deep block for offices and
spaces for commercial uses facing the main street (Grenzacherstrasse) and a residential building with a court.
The result is a urban square with public character. The new buildings, together with the existing structures, form articulated spaces dominated by the tall silo. Moreover of the Warteckhof are used for important artistic and cultural events, such as LISTE: the ART BASEL section dedicated to young artists.

[project selected by Giorgia Pinoli]