Over the summer Audemars Piguet announced that is had commissioned Danish firm BIG to expand the headquarters (located in Le Brassus) by adding a spiral building to the rear of the original Audemars Piguet family home (and workshops), which currently houses the brand’s museum. Audemars Piguet opened the original museum in 1992 and expanded it in 2004. The collection includes more than 1,300 timepieces that are part of the brand’s heritage and span 250 years of history.

The new museum, called Maison des Fondateurs, features a spiral-shaped design that sits partially underground, directly behind the current museum building. The buildings will be connected underground. It will also include galleries and event spaces.

The museum will feature a brass-coated steel roof, which will undulate up and down to create vaulted ceilings. The rest of the structure will be built using a mixture of modern and traditional materials, including concrete, stone and timber.

In addition to famous design firm BIG, the project will also include work from museum specialist HG Merz, landscape firm Muller Illien and engineer Luchinger & Meyer.

Check out our photo report of the current Audemars Piguet museum which we toured with Martin Werhli in 2009.