"Architecture goes far beyond the mere design of a functional object: a building is a living space and directly influences the way people live or work". So it was with this idea and a holistic view of building that architect Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, a few years ago led the design of the Manufakturzentrum, the large, light-flooded building on the outskirts of Schaffhausen where the company brings together the production of components, manufacturing movements and cases. Realised in a short space of time, with construction lasting just 21 months and the involvement of around 80 construction companies, the building declares its character from the outside and, as the managing director confirms, faithfully reflects the company. "First of all, the building had to offer optimal conditions for production and for our employees, and very important was also to be able to provide a unique experience for visitors," Christoph Grainger-Herr explains. "However, we did not only want to build a functional factory, but also a building with a high aesthetic value that also adequately expressed the spirit of our brand. Hence the idea to take inspiration from modernist exhibition halls - "that mix of gallery, atelier and engineering fair seemed to me the ideal architectural space" - and to focus on elements that would evoke the same combination of luxury lifestyle and precision mechanics that characterises IWC watches. Examples of this are the black-profiled glass surfaces combined with the white canopies that cite the contrast found in many of the dials, but also the wooden core of the building, an emblem of luxury and sophistication, juxtaposed with the colder, almost laboratory-like environment of the production spaces. 
In fact, in the Manufakturzentrum, IWC Schaffhausen combines traditional watchmaking craftsmanship with advanced production methods and state-of-the-art technology. This is also thanks to the logical arrangement of the entire value-added production chain, from raw material to individual components and the complete manufacture calibre, on a single floor. Thus, if in the basement there is the case fabrication department, on the main floor one moves from the component production department, where most of the steps are automated and the latest generation of turning and milling stations guarantee quality and precision, to the area for the assembly of the manufacturing gauges, which instead is the result of painstaking manual work for which a line concept was developed. A total of eleven functional and welcoming departments in which everything has been designed with sustainability in mind. Always mindful of ecological and social responsibility and active with various projects to protect the environment and people, IWC has in fact chosen various measures for its headquarters to limit its environmental impact. These include a photovoltaic system on the roof, reduced energy consumption through automatic lighting control and LED lights, a sensor-operated solar shading system that prevents unnecessary heat penetration and the use of CO2-neutral energy from Swiss hydroelectric power stations. Elements that, together with everything else, make the Manufakturzentrum a place that, as Christoph Grainger-Herr proudly comments, 'more than 230 employees call their professional home'.
