The Materialists: strasserthun

‘And what did you make of the smells?’

It’s not a question that’s often posed to you by your driver when you’re on your way home from a design event, but then again this wasn’t any old event and this wasn’t any old driver. Architonic had been invited, along with a host of renowned architects, interior architects and designers, to Thun, slap bang in the middle of Switzerland, for the opening of something rather game-changing. Here, a stone’s throw from Bern, leading high-end fitters and carpenters (and all-round materials boffins) strasserthun have, true to their ever-innovative modus operandi, bucked the trend for all things digital and, in a decidedly analogue move, created a unique, immersive three-dimensional space for material exploration.

The brainchild of strasserthun’s creative director, industrial designer Harry Hersche, punkt6 goes far beyond the limits of a traditional materials library, providing architectural and design professionals, as well as end-clients, with an inspiring platform on which to get to grips, literally, with over a thousand materials – from scorched wood and cement to materials that incorporate rose petals and even cocoa – in a fundamental way. ‘Everybody who builds their own house or flat wants to touch the materials, wants to see them for real,’ explains Hersche. ‘Nobody chooses a material based solely on a picture. And it’s not just about touch and visual appearance. Smell, for instance, is also another important dimension.’ (Our driver, who turns out to be one of the team of dozens of dedicated fitters at strasserthun for whom material ‘soul and groove’, as Hersche puts it, is a prerequisite for the job, clearly shares the same passion and vision. It’s the strasserthun way.)

In response to CEO Marcel Schwander’s drive to underpin and promote further the company’s well-earned position as go-to experts for not only materials know-how, honed over decades in business, but also innovation in the development and the bespoke processing and application of materials that add enormous value to architectural and interior architectural projects, as well as furniture and product designs, Hersche came up with a simple, yet clever, spatial device – one which speaks the language of architecture itself and connects on a visceral level, through the primal activities of discovery and play that it invites, with clients. At the heart of the punkt6 showroom stands a 4-metre-high, box-shaped open structure, made of grey-lacquered wood, which provides visitors with a minimalist grid upon which to create their own material compositions. Guided by strasserthun’s materials consultants, they can explore the contents of the, rather unsurprisingly beautifully finished, cabinets dotted around the space, selecting samples of different sizes from a range of categories – glass, wood, stone, metal, textile, organic, upcycled and recycled surfaces – and configuring them at varying heights on the frame, both on its exterior and its room-like interior. The idea, in creating these real-time mood boards, as it were, is for clients to acquire a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the way materials work when perceived in three-dimensional, architectural space, viewed from different angles and under different light conditions. In short, it’s about the reality of the way we live with materials, and is the antithesis of the spot-lit, fixed material-sample presentations you’ll find in your run-of-the-mill showroom.

It’s little wonder that strasserthun, a family-owned company since it first set up in business in the years after the Second World War, should seek to add value to the experience of materials specification. It’s a business whose very DNA is about adding value. While punkt6 may inspire its visitors in a playful way, strasserthun takes seriously its role in the value chain that is the creation of unique interiors and furniture. Continuously scouting around for new materials and new ways of processing them, as well as the resurrection of long-forgotten craftsmanship techniques, strasserthun is excellently placed not only to present a considered selection of relevant materials, but, in its collaboration with architects, interiors architects and designers, to partner them closely in their work, to solve their materials problems for them in a highly individualised and competent way, thereby adding value to both project and business.

An architect, as much as they’d often like to think is the case, usually doesn’t have the expertise, or indeed the time, when it comes to in-depth knowledge of materials. strasserthun on the other hand can come on board at an early stage in the process, and not only help identify the right materials, but process and tailor them according the specific wishes of the client, as well as offer customised design and fit-out solutions thanks to their in-house cohort of skilled designers and craftsmen. ‘Our clients’ needs always remain central,’ explains Marcel Schwander, who took over running strasserthun in 20xx and whose determination has given the forward-facing company an even greater impetus to offer unparalleled innovation and service. ‘We’re completely focused on this. That’s not to say we’re in business to work with everyone. We want to work with the right type of clients and create the right solution for them. We love working in a bespoke way.’

Once visitors to the 450-square-metre showroom have identified which materials are the right ones for their particular projects, they are guided into an adjacent room where they are able to explore the technical possibilities of employing such materials; then it’s upstairs to the first floor for a chance to browse through hundreds of reference projects and examine, first-hand, examples of furniture designs whose material profile, and in many cases actual design, is thanks to strasserthun. Among these you’ll find the company’s proprietary furniture collection, authored by, among others, celebrated Dutch design grandee Pierre Mazairac, whose list of clients includes such respected brands as Pastoe and Leolux. Mazairac recognises too the value of strasserthun’s new signature showroom, particularly with regard to his interior-design work. ‘If I’ve got a special project, I can come here to see how I can make it extra-special,’ he says. ‘They have amazing laser technology.’ Again, it’s about adding value.

For all its cutting-edgeness, however, strasserthun isn’t in the business of jettisoning its past. This is an outfit, after all, that’s spent 70 years honing its craft. It may be going places, every year seeing an increase in the international profile of its projects and partnerships, but this is still a company that holds authenticity centre-stage in its brand values. And a chief characteristic of such authenticity is place. (It’s not called strasserthun for nothing.) With its extremely loyal and long-term team of locally drawn hand-working talent, it invites clients, existing and new, to visit the company on its home turf and experience what makes it different. Its striking new showroom may be an emphatic expression of its commitment to home, but so, on a symbolic level, is the newly planted apple tree that sits outside its main entrance. ‘We’re passionate about what we do,’ says Schwander. ‘We’re Berner. This is where we’ve always been.’ It’s not only soul and groove you’ll find at strasserthun, but roots too.

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