Modernisation Rätia business premises, Davos

The characteristic structure of the Rätia business building with its sloped copper roof on the promenade was created in 1972 by Justus Dahinden. In the course of a building technical and energy renovation, the hermetic structure is broken up and a small shopping mall is designed.
Building on Dahinden's design theme of the "roof landscape," punctual skylights as folds of the roof and in form and geometry as inversions of the existing incisions of the roof terraces bring daylight into the deep building structure. The large ceiling opening between the ground and upper floor creates spatial generosity and directs light to the entrance level. Arranged between the central row of columns, the shopping mall receives a simple orientation that incorporates the characteristic, existing staircase in exposed concrete as part of the pathway through the building. The required earthquake reinforcement is ensured by means of column claddings and prestressing cables, without affecting the flexibility of the skeleton construction.
The presence and plasticity of these cross columns and capitals in exposed concrete physically shape the space. Guided by the materiality and design motifs of Dahinden, the existing structure is restored and new parapets, lighting, and plantings are formulated in the sense of further development.