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Metal and glass for pleasure

Macardo: Whisky lovers should remember this name. The Macardo Swiss Distillery in Strohwilen in the canton of Thurgau has developed further and today impresses with state-of-the-art infrastructure in new operating buildings. In terms of construction, the new buildings are characterized by a wide variety of high-class components made of metal and glass.

A few weeks ago, Martina and Andreas Bössow opened their world of enjoyment and experience, the Macardo Swiss Distillery in Strohwilen, municipality of Amlikon-Bissegg. In just two years of construction, the existing property with the cheese dairy building, which was built in 1904, was expanded and impressive new buildings were added. Today, the old building houses the distillery, the adjacent new buildings a shopping store, event room, lounge, hotel and next to it the barrel storage.

For connoisseurs with vision

In addition to the main business, the production of whiskies and other high-proof specialties, Macardo has a lot to offer the connoisseur. Whether a fine whisky or a fruity cocktail, in the Macardo Honesty Bar with Cigar Lounge, enjoyment comes first. Inside in a stylish ambience, outside on the large terrace with a view of Alpstein and Säntis. Here the guest can feel at home.

The in-house hotel with ten comfortable and spacious bed & breakfest rooms and two apartments allows guests to end the evening pleasantly and start the day with an impressive panoramic view. In the rustic furnished walk-in store the whole Macardo assortment is presented. Tasting events are also held here regularly for customers.

Firing is done with wood

In the old cheese dairy building, built over a hundred years ago, high-quality raw materials have been processed into first-class specialties for generations. In the past it was cheese, today it is Macardo's whiskies, spirits, vieilles and marc distillates.

Distilling is done by hand, gently, in small quantities and according to traditional methods. "We are one of the few Swiss distilleries still distilling with fire today," Andreas Bössow explains to "Metall" and adds: "We hold on to this craft, the fire is part of our identity and our philosophy. Combined with innovative technologies and a sustainability concept that is unique in the industry, we produce fine distillates here in Strohwilen that bear our signature."

Sustainability shapes the new building

During the planning and realization of the new building, Martina and Andreas Bössow also focused specifically on sustainable, energy-optimized solutions. The building is cooled with spring water, heated with wood, solar energy and geothermal energy, and only highly insulated components were used for the building envelope. Nowhere is energy lost. Wastewater is also used, and energy is generated from the stillage - the residue from the burning process - in a biogas plant.

Colored profiles and glass for the barrel storage

Undeniably, the "Whisky Lager", the tall, elongated building with the noble front window facing the street and the colored, longitudinal lamella facades, is unique in its appearance. Together with the old building, it forms the entrance to the store and reception. The play of colors on the facades is intended to imitate the natural autumn colors of the Thurgau landscape. Built as a curtain-type, rear-ventilated construction, exactly 16 different colors can be discerned on the facade. These are arranged irregularly and there is hardly any discernible rhythmic sequence in them. Only in the case of the somewhat dominant white colors are there minimum distances of one meter and more.

The colored slats are made of object-specific aluminum rectangular profiles with internal screw channels. A total of 6.8 km of them were processed. The profiles were powder-coated in the mentioned colors in the finished cut and processed state. The vertical façade divisions are clearly visible on the building. The individual lanes have different widths. Each panel in turn consists of four façade elements arranged one above the other. For this purpose, vertical laser-cut sheet metal strips were screwed together with the louver profiles to form the corresponding units. Assembly was carried out element by element - from bottom to top - on special substructures with a secured suspension system. The window elements integrated in the facade are set in sheet metal frames and thus clearly distinguish themselves technically and visually from the facade skin.

"The big challenge for our company with this façade clearly lay in the logistics," explained Roman Rüttimann, Managing Director of the executing company Ernst Weber AG, during the site inspection. "Storing more than 2,000 profiles" - Rüttimann continued - "in 16 different colors and various lengths, screwing them onto the corresponding element frames in the correct but irregular sequence and mounting them on the substructures at the building site in a logical manner required a well thought-out approach and corresponding concentration from everyone involved."

Dominant front window on the barrel storage

The huge front window at the barrel warehouse, leading to the gable peak, looks as if it was built to welcome customers and guests. The black sheet metal frame, the reflective glass and the filigree of the muntins generate a certain elegance. Heroal's WD72 system was used for the frame and muntins of the 5 m wide and 9 m high front. The front consists of four stacked elements and is fixed between the two concrete walls. The outer sides of the lobe profiles are all on the same alignment. A special feature of this construction is a mix of aluminum lobe profiles and a static mullion transom.

On the room side, in each case at the level of the element joints, three connecting and supporting profiles are installed. These horizontally clamped girders made of RHS 150 × 100 × 8 connect and stabilize the two concrete walls on the one hand and support / carry the aluminum front at the same time. Raico post-and-beam add-on components are welded to the outside of the strong steel tubes. The fronts with their lobe profiles are inserted horizontally - like glass - into the mullion-transom profile systems. Only the continuous cover strips stand out slightly from the alignment of the facade.

Five mountain peaks for the south facade

Uniformity, rhythm, dark metal and slightly reflective glass dominate the appearance of the south facade. Behind it are the lounge, offices, lounges on the first floor and the spacious and color-coordinated guest rooms on the upper floors.

The south facade is divided into five segments by the projecting, vertically running column claddings. In combination with the ridge cladding, these segments look like five partial facades set into the niches, whose shapes rudimentarily reflect the contours of the nearby Churfirsten peaks.

A closer look reveals that these five partial facades, each 7 m wide and 12 m high, stand on two different levels. Anyone with a geometric eye will be aware that these five partial facades conceal sophisticated geometries. The front sides of the concrete element building are probably in alignment. The walls leading inwards, however, which are also connected to the facades, run at an angle to the alignment of the facades.

These conditions generated various three-dimensional connections to the masonry and to the wooden structure in the attic. The sheet metal cladding in particular proved to be correspondingly demanding and required many three-dimensional shear cuts.

Element separation at the intermediate floors

In its construction, the south facade largely corresponds to the large front window of the drum store. Here, too, the individual elements made of Heroal flap profiles of the WD72 system are stacked on top of each other. However, the building has two concrete mezzanine floors, which allowed supporting and guiding in the area of the element transitions. Only in the uppermost, higher storey was a horizontally clamped RRK 100 × 100 × 10 used as stiffener and support. On the outside, this is also provided with a welded Raico superstructure and accommodates the frame profiles of the fronts. On the room side, these steel girders are clad with flame-retardant panels.

The areas separating the floors are fitted with inserted aluminum panels. On the outside, a continuous sheet metal case generates the desired homogeneity. While external venetian blinds are integrated for the upper floors, articulated arm awnings were attached for the shading on the first floor due to the door fronts and their accessibility.

The aforementioned protruding column cladding is formed from multiple bent aluminum sheets and attached to bolts hanging / dilating to a vertical profile. These vertically drawing sheet metal boxes contain and conceal other infrastructure such as the roof water drains, music speakers and are used to attach later LED lighting. The fastening of the fronts to the rafters was done by a two-part U-profile, which can silently absorb any movements of the wooden structure.

Many other metal building elements

In addition to a complex entrance front to the store, Ernst Weber AG produced and supplied many other metal construction elements, such as doors with access controls, fire protection closures, interior and exterior windows, and even the bus shelter for the regional bus service, which is directly adjacent to the building.

Author: Editorial office

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Macardo - Roof structure attached to the Churfirsten mountains