Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron has released a full set of images of the Vitra Schaudepot ? a new gallery for the permanent collection of the Frank Gehry-designed Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany (+ slideshow).

Opening this week, the gabled brick building presents the first permanent exhibition of the Vitra Design Museum's vast collection, which includes over 7,000 pieces of furniture, and the estates of designers such as Verner Panton and Charles and Ray Eames.

The bulk of the collection is stored in a basement, which originally sat beneath a sawtooth-profile factory building.
Herzog & de Meuron has replaced this old industrial building with the new exhibition hall, which presents a curated selection of designs.
It becomes the firm's second building at the Vitra Campus ? the ever-growing headquarters of the Swiss furniture brand, which also features architecture by Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando and SANAA.

The original brief from Vitra head Rolf Fehlbaum was to create a simple underground extension to the basement.

Related story: Herzog & de Meuron creates subterranean gallery for Musée Unterlinden in Colmar

According to Herzog & de Meuron, Fehlbaum didn't want to making any new architectural statements on the Vitra Campus, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis. But the architects convinced him that an above-ground facility would be less costly.

They eventually settled on a very straightforward design ? a gable...