Wittenstein Innovation Factory

Wittenstein’s Innovation Factory is located in the heart of Baden-Württemberg’s Tauber Valley. This is where the company develops and manufactures innovative mechatronic drive solutions tailored to the needs of their customers, including millimeter-sized nano-gears for medical equipment and precision drives for the aerospace industry. Wittenstein is a true hidden champion among German SMEs. The new building combines development, production, and logistics under a single roof to streamline communication channels and shorten development lead times, thus efficiently interlinking processes and enhancing the company’s ability to innovate. Yet the building also meets exceedingly demanding sustainability requirements. The design exercise resulted in a new hybrid building typology that merges regional tradition with globally relevant technological innovation.

The two- and three-story building expands the existing corporate campus to the southeast. Its layout reflects the entire value chain of one of the company’s business units, including spaces for development and administration, production facilities, and a logistics building. The factory’s modular design allows for the campus to be expanded further in the future to include additional business units.

Situated on a slope, the Innovation Factory features a west-facing entrance area that runs past two parallel development and testing areas to access the core of the building. This is where the lobby interlinks all three floors and functions as the building’s vibrant centerpiece. Serving as a marketplace, it fosters interaction between people from management, administration, production, research, and customers closely involved in the development process. Works of art on the walls reinforce the gallery-like atmosphere and the cultural aspect of the marketplace. Located on the building’s central axis, the lobby connects the various work areas and provides a view of the inner courtyards, which are designed as Japanese gardens with boulders from the excavation to invite employees and visitors to unwind and relax. A distinctive feature of the new building is its transparent design, which enables employees and customers to view all production processes through glass walls while ensuring abundant daylighting of all workplaces.

The façade references local architectural tradition: The lower part of the building is made of regional natural stone, while the upper façade elements consist of a weather-resistant, natural, rice-based material instead of conventional wood. The northwest façade is fully glazed on the first and second floors. Translucent, slanted awnings partially block direct sunlight, which reduces the amount of energy required for cooling while fully retaining the view to the outside.

FSC- and PEFC-certified wood, a combined heat and power unit, and rooftop photovoltaic panels contribute significantly to the factory’s sustainability. The DGNB certification process was the first of its kind for an industrial building, which is why this project was a major contributor to developing the certification standard of the German Sustainable Building Council.

Its hybrid, networked typology and advanced sustainability standard in industrial construction make the Wittenstein Innovation Factory a milestone in industrial architecture that will strengthen Wittenstein’s ingenuity for decades to come.