Planmeca USA

50 kilometres north of Chicago stands a building that was long the headquarters of mattress manufacturer Serta. In 2019, the US headquarters of the Finnish Planmeca Group, a leading manufacturer of dental imaging and CAD/CAM equipment, moved into the 8,000 square metre building and has been using it as a test and training centre ever since.

It is located on a 20-hectare sloping site on the edge of a natural wetland system and was designed to give all employees equal access to natural light and views of the wetlands. As a result, the building, which is over 200 metres long and 20 metres wide, appears as a horizontal beam floating on a recessed base. The southern end rests on pillars to maintain the horizontal baseline where the terrain slopes down to a water retention basin.

The façade is bordered at the top and bottom by a protruding concrete lip, the interior of which is glazed. The sandblasted LAMBERTS LINIT®EcoGlass profiled glass in the two-storey section of the building is one of the few vertically oriented design elements. The U-glass is used in double glazing and has a decisive influence on the appearance of the building.