2025 Architectural Record Awards Winner: Dynafit Headquarters

Kiefersfelden, Germany

Architects & Firms

Dynafit Headquarters—designed by 2014 Design Vanguard Barozzi Veiga and located in Kiefersfelden, Germany—was named “Building of the Year” by the RECORD editors. The office building’s form of two interlocking triangular wedges evokes the dips and peaks of the surrounding Alps along the German-Austrian border. The interior, designed as a series of bright, open spaces, maximizes efficiency by concentrating the essential services at opposite ends of each floor. The simple concrete structure is supported by service cores on opposite ends in either volume. A glass-enclosed atrium at the building’s center is the primary circulation route; it is flooded with light throughout the day. Offices and makerspaces are, by virtue of the structure’s tapered pyramidal forms, of a more human scale. Inspired by Dynafit’s skiing apparel and equipment, the facade system aims for lightness. A diagrid of white perforated-aluminum brises soleil wraps and shields the building from solar radiation, while still allowing for expansive views. The shading system is reflected in an ever-changing pattern across the building’s exterior and interior glazing. This project of seeming simplicity confounds and delights in its thoughtful detailing and sectional complexity.

“A cross between a museum and a Bond villain’s lair! What looks like a simple exterior massing from afar becomes more detailed through facade articulation and exterior shading. The intersection of the two pyramidal shapes creates an atrium that engenders connections across the interior program. This is a jewel of a building: refined and finely detailed and full of surprises!”

- David Farnsworth