Trio Chocolate Fountain | milk- ,dark- and white chocolate fountain
As part of designing the House of Läderach Kurt Merki Jr. also placed an enormous fresh chocolate fountain on the visitordway from the café to the museum which is included in the building and offers visitors insight on the history of Läderach and the fresh chocolate journey.
The unique and specially designed and built fountain is 2.28 meters tall and has a diameter of 1.1 It weighs over a ton and took 40 weeks to manufacture. Its entire appearance is breathtaking to each visitor while the fountain peacefully thrones in the middle of a gallery above the Läderach shop. If not already spotted by the customers while roaming through the shop they encounter this source of delight while on their journey through the different areas of the course Kurs Merki Jr. created while designing the House of Läderach. And while fountains per se attract the attention of people, this one even tops the experience due to its content: three flavors of pure fresh chocolate.
Following the concept of displaying the world of fresh chocolate and giving deeper insights on the topic, Kurt Merki Jr. planned the fountain to run with all three basic flavors of chocolate: white chocolate, dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Passing visitors have the chance to indulge themselves in this sweet pleasure by directly tapping each flavor directly from the fountain.
Creating a smoothly running fountain able to process fresh chocolate is a first work accomplished by Kurs Merki Jr. who conveniently has a broad and long standing experience in product design as well. Attentive visitors will notice the smooth regular waves within the chocolate flow which were specifically designed as an optical element. Visitors might also realise that the fresh chocolate fountain is placed directly under a round shaped ceiling window. This is not only due to the idea of using the incoming daylight to create a pleasing sensation but also has a very practical reason: with its size and weight the fountain could only be transported to its place by lifting over the roof and down through this window - precision work at its best.
Overall the fresh chocolate fountain was a challenge creatively and from a construction point of view but definitely worth the work and an absolutely welcomed new experience for Kurt Merki Jr. who always aims to think out of the box and create whatever is necessary for meeting his clients demands and providing the best experience for everybody involved.