North of the Rheinstraße, in the Bregenzerach delta, industrial enterprises have set up operations in an area known as “Neuamerika”. Increasing urbanisation also saw the establishment of a supermarket. A giant sign made of perforated trapezoidal copper sheet, which spans the entire horizontal scale of the building and of which large parts can be lowered mechanically, signals the motorised customer whether the store is “open” or “closed”. The 100 meter long building constitutes an integrated entity, which stands out from the neighbouring buildings by its clarity.

Behind the finely perforated sign, which in addition to its signalling effect also has the task to shade the predominantly glazed south front, the space is shared between the sales hall and a covered ground-level parking space. Furthermore, the entire basement serves as an underground parking garage, which, in its logic structure, promotes clarity and security. Two escalators facilitate access to the sales floor. The structure of the one-story building is based on a wide-meshed column grid of 12 x 16 meters, which, even though the reinforced concrete pillars are visible, remains inconspicuous. Their slim proportions, fostered through the generous ceiling height and low roof loads, grace them with unusual elegance. The solid fir wood ceiling, which rests on high and slender glulam beams, forms the roof. Planks with a thickness of 12 centimetres and a width of 20 centimetres have been jointed to form slabs, whose material effect determines the architectural space. The positive impression of wood does not need to be shielded, the sparingly and accurately set up lighting, ventilation and security technology installations fade into the background given the clarity of the support structure. As with all supermarkets, the interior design follows micro-economic and company-specific considerations. The architectural means used in the Eurospar supermarket are rather sparse, relative to the architectural task, which, depending on the respective corporate philosophy, allows for the full spectrum of design opportunities. This includes an architecturally effective but economic structure, a clearly structured floor plan, carefully defined proportions and the special element embodied by the perforated sign. This building encompasses more architectural content than a common “decorated shed” and is, at the same time, an example of less is more.