Since the mid-1960s, the corporate headquarters of a huge Swabian company have been located on the Schillerhöhe, a green range of hills on the outskirts of Gerlingen, just ten kilometres outside of Stuttgart. Here, the industrial giant is literally hiding in a forest.

The heterogeneous development, the core of which dates from the 1960s and 1970s, is loosely grouped around a central, green campus, the north side of which is occupied by the broad, one-storey building of the staff restaurant. The building dates from 1968 and is obviously inspired by prestigious hall buildings of the International Style, such as Mies van der Rohe's Crown Hall in Chicago or his National Gallery in Berlin.

With its storey-high glass façades, the open interior connects on all sides with the surrounding forest and green areas. An intended increase in capacity to 1,300 meals per day, new fire protection regulations, and structural adaptations with regard to accessibility recently made it necessary to redesign the staff restaurant – "while preserving its external appearance".