dgj144 Raiffeisen Kreuzplatz, Zürich, CH , 2011

Raiffeisen’s new branch on Zurich’s reconfigured Kreuzplatz dissolves traditional barriers between customer and employee, casting the bank as a space of encounter. Advanced technologies make banking infrastructure largely invisible. Employees access terminals concealed in furniture elements, while a robotic retrieval system grants 24h access to safety deposit boxes. This shifts the branch’s role into becoming a light-filled, inviting environment where costumers can learn about new products and services. Client and advisor can gather around an info table or in a meeting room for private discussions. Guests are free to enjoy a coffee in the lounge, while exploring offers on an interactive touch screen.

Subtly modulating the different enclosures, a media band activates the open space, integrating screens, and lighting and controlling views and daylight. This band in massive white polymer-composite has been digitally fabricated to show abstract images of some of the area’s most important cultural figures. In the rear lounge, an info table with rear projection and gesture-tracking cameras allow the entire surface to be used as a display to walk customers through new promotional materials or to act as a spatial interface to online banking system.