Depot District 3

The road network in the canton Basel Country has a total length of 450 km and is maintained by means of the Civil Engineering Department's three road-maintenance depots. The depot for District 3 is on the edge of the industrial area in Sissach. As it is situated right by the A2 and A22 motorways, as well as the town access road, it is optimally connected to the local transport network. The new replacement building gives District 3 a modern and practical infrastructure for operation and maintenance of the cantonal roads in the east of Basel Country.

The new depot consists of an elongated structure with a gable roof projecting on all sides. Under this shared roof, the building is divided according to the three main functions that it accommodates: staff area / workshops, parking garage and external storage area. The areas for each of these uses are accessed from north and south via the roofed outdoor spaces.

The building is a wooden structure and its design is inspired by the local agricultural and commercial buildings. The material that characterises the depot's appearance is wood, which is used according to the respective utility functions. The salt silo, easily visible from afar, is based on the formal language of Basel Country's historical saltworks buildings, and provides an accentuating feature for the building volume's elongated roof and the surroundings.

The building's wooden support structure is made of spruce and laminated beech. The optimised structure consists solely of a rafter roof, longitudinal beams, rods and columns – an efficient load-bearing structure with maximum flexibility. The load of the rafter roof, which acts as a truss, is transferred via the roof surface, the longitudinal beams and the columns. Horizontal reinforcement is guaranteed by lateral bracing near the walls and over the roof surface. The rooms are made of prefabricated wall and ceiling elements, separate from the primary load-bearing structure.