Möbel Rieger Heilbronn

Heilbronn, Germany

Photo © Joachim Grothus für blocher partners

Photo © Dieter Blocher

Photo © Joachim Grothus für blocher partners

Retail + Stores

Architects: blocher partners

Location: Im Neckargarten 16, 74078 Heilbronn, Germany
Year: 2019
Client: Rieger GmbH & Co. KG - Göppingen
Brief: New construction of a furniture store
Size: 52.600 sqm

In the new Rieger furniture store in Heilbronn, a combination of CO2-neutral architecture, top design quality, gastronomy and a wide range of products makes for a holistic shopping experience. With a 36,500 square-meter sales floor and 52,600 square-meter operating space, the new Rieger Group flagship store points to the future – with customers in mind. Its architecture, interior design as well as corporate design and guidance system come from one source – blocher partners in Stuttgart.

Visitors enter this striking building via a gently set back façade. A shimmering skin of 25,000 hand-bent shingles floats above the glass entryway. The metal façade, in six tones of copper, allows the house to merge with its surroundings and the nearby Neckar. blocher partners developed an organic design language that blends seamlessly into the landscape. The sparkling eye-catcher of folded, anodised Eloxal aluminium sheets represents a marriage of digital work with traditional craftsmanship, and reflects the qualities of the Rieger furniture store, with its hands-on experiences, state-of-the-art technology and expert advice. The shingles over the entrance – computer designed but fashioned by hand – are lighter in colour as they rise to the top. The façade appears to fade away. Contrasting light and dark shingles lend the surface additional vitality. The building thus appears light, lively and less massive than its considerable volume might suggest.