In 2011, Muttenz municipality approached Oppenheim Architecture to realize an interactive community experience with its new municipal water purification plant. The drinking water treatment plant creates an expressive building that forms a new landmark for the town of Muttenz and the Basel area. The plant is clad in a sprayed-on concrete and local clay designed to be self cleaning and taken over by the nature of the site. This allows for a timeless icon, requiring minimal maintenance to its ever-changing facade.

The plant is a model of sustainability, extremely sensitive to its contrasting setting near the Rhine riverfront. Settled between the protected forest and the nearby industrial parks, the project educates on the complex purification process. The role of the architecture is to express the state-of-the-art technology and emphasize the importance of the purification process. Functionally, the project not only achieves the goal of purifying water at the highest industry standard, it also draws in the community with its subtle iconic presence and its interior educational community gallery spaces.