The slab-shaped high rise in western Zurich is part of the Herdern Migros headquarters, which opened in 1965 and is now listed as an industrial heritage site. Over the years, the brick facade of the 17-storey building has become weatherworn and is undergoing comprehensive refurbishment. The urban and preservation context as well as the building’s proportions are particularly significant in this respect.
The work comprises the static and energetic renovation, including HVAC renewal. On the shorter sides, the load-bearing structure is being reinforced, while the existing brick facades and parapets will be replaced and thermally insulated all around. The new fair-faced masonry walls resemble the old ones in brick format, texture and colour. New aluminium windows with triple insulation glazing meet the thermal and acoustic specifications. Inside, the ribbed concrete ceilings of the office spaces will be uncovered and will serve as temperature buffer. They create a workshop-like atmosphere that matches the industrial history and aesthetic of the building.
The setback top storey, surrounded by a roof terrace, houses an executive board room. The entire space, along with the small kitchen, will be refurbished and offers panoramic views of Zurich West and the Alps.
Location Zurich, Switzerland
Programme Refurbishment of the listed office high-rise building (built in 1965 by the architects Hans Vogelsanger, Ernst Scharzenbach, Albert Maurer),
19 floors (1 underground, 18 above ground), 500 workplaces, seminar rooms
Competition 2018, 1st Prize Gigon/Guyer Architekten and WaltGalmarini
Planning/Construction 2019–2023
Client Genossenschaft Migros Zurich
Gross Floor Area 9‘948 m2
Team G/G Planning/Execution: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Urs Meyer (Project Manager), Milica Brockmann, Andy Gratwohl, Arend Kölsch, Pieter Rabijns, Urh Urbancic, Luisa Wittgen, Nathalie Reiz (I), Jannis Poncelet (I)
Competition: Stefan Thommen, Filippo Cattaneo, Vladimir Dianiska, Milica Brockmann, Mickael Minghetti (I), Michelle Feige (I)
Construction Management Spiegel + Partner AG, Zurich
Landscape Architecture Lorenz Eugster Landschaftsarchitektur und Städtebau Gmbh, Zurich
Programme Refurbishment and reinforcement of the listed parking deck
with 568 spaces:
Replacement/refurbishment of the car park roofs, 3 new escape stairways,
photovoltaic installation (approx. 4.500 m²),
charging stations for electric vehicles.
The facility building and the Herdern high-rise building form an
ensemble (built in 1965 by the architects Hans Vogelsanger, Ernst Schwarzenbach, Albert Maurer).
Commission 2020 (Feasibility Study)
Planning/Construction 2020–2025
Client Genossenschaft Migros Zurich
Gross Floor Area 14‘220 m2
Team G/G Feasibility Study: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Urs Meyer, Milica Brockmann
Planning/ Construction: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Lilla Kis
Construction Management Spiegel+Partner AG, Zurich
In the Tech Cluster Zug, the 40-metre office high-rise Crea Tower I will be built. Together with the sculpture Semiramis, it forms a harmonious ensemble and creates a new central square.
The ten-storey office building is accessed via an arcade facing the public square. The new building has an almost square column grid with a slightly off-centre two-part core. The bays along the façades contain the workplaces in various arrangements, the meeting rooms and the recessed, two-storey terraces. The four interior bays adjacent to the core offer space for exchange and informal meetings, with spiralling double-storey rooms and open flights of helical stairs. It is this central void, with horizontal and vertical views and varying headroom, which connects the floors into a continuous, inspiring work landscape. The sequence of these diverse spaces creates a generous atmosphere, but also with scale and intimacy for the users. The terraces feature intensive planting and are arranged in staggered pairs that spatially connect three storeys.
The load bearing construction with the vault-column structure above two basement levels is lighter and has fewer CO2 emissions than a conventional construction. Here, the vault-column structure makes a significant contribution to sustainability with less mass and fewer CO2 emissions when compared to usual concrete slabs.
«CreaTower I – RFS Decken» (PDF Downlaod)
Lecture by Philippe Block and Mike Guyer at «15. Schweizer Betonforum», 07.06.2023, ETH Zurich
Location Zug, Switzerland
Programme Office high-rise (40 m) with 450 - 480 workplaces,
foyer, meeting rooms, cafeteria,
ground floor with public areas: café/ bistro
Feasibility Study 2022, 1st Prize
Planning/Construction 2023–2027
Client Urban Assets Zug AG, Zug User: VZ-Depotbank AG
Gross Floor Area 13‘272 m2 (competiton)
Team G/G Competition: Stefan Thommen, Carlo Magnaguagno, Dylan Kreuzer, Sophie Ballweg
Planning/Construction: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Daniela Schadegg (Project Manager), Ivana Beljan
Construction Management Büro für Bauökonomie AG, Lucerne
Total Contractor General Planning: Gigon/Guyer and Büro für Bauökonomie AG, Lucerne
Team G/G Competition: Stefan Thommen, Lukas Kübli, Dario Caccialupi, Jan Zimmermann (I)
Planning/Construction: Christian Maggioni (Team Manager), Matthias Clivio (Project Manager), Damien Andenmatten, Christoph Lay, Franzis Gericks, Roman Vetterli, Emilia Lienhard (I), Lilo Nöske (I), Jannis Sachmerda (I), Christoph Stahel (I), Zoe Steurer (I), Diana Strässle (I)
Total Contractor General Planning (preliminary design phase until total contractor tendering ) GP WAS GmbH, Lucerne: GKS Architekten Generalplaner AG, Lucerne with Gigon/Guyer Architects; Total Contractor (from total contractor tendering) Anliker AG Generalunternehmung, Emmenbrücke
Landscape Architecture Planting courtyard and roof terraces: Lorenz Eugster, Zurich
Cost Planning/Scheduling TGS Bauökonomen AG, Lucerne (preliminary design phase until total contractor tendering)
A new housing development on the Hangenmoos site in Wädenswil replaces a predecessor from the 1960s. The elongated three-hectare plot lies adjacent to the historical town centre and is characterised by the orientation towards Zugerstrasse and the sloping terrain to the west.
With the free placement of the buildings in a park-like area, the dense residential development makes reference to the idea of the garden city. The arrangement of the buildings is defined by various factors: the terrain profile, the orientation of the apartments, the view of the lake, the neighbouring buildings and the busy road. Themes such as the continuous, differentiated outdoor space, staggering of volumes, framed and panoramic views determine the composition of the buildings.
Three residential typologies and different apartment contribute to the diversely mixed housing project, which is being realised in stages.
The area is separated from the busy Zugerstrasse by slim, staggered buildings. Here the staircases are arranged along the facade, the living and dining rooms are oriented on both sides, while bedrooms and balconies only face the quiet park.
Placed behind, on the rising hillside and along the quieter Holzmoosrütistrasse, are five to seven storey buildings. Their orientation is guided by the terrain and the view of the lake. These large and prominent structures form the backbone of the new development and have the highest density. Three to six apartments are grouped around an internal access core on each floor. The larger apartments are laid out around a corner or as dually oriented types, the smaller ones face the lake on one side. Despite their limited floor area, a variety of inside and outside views give the apartments depth and generosity. Together with the lower blocks on Zugerstrasse, the large building volumes form a differentiated green space with a network of pedestrian paths.
In the buildings of the third typology, four apartments are planned per floor. The two five-storey buildings are aligned parallel to the terrain’s contour lines and offset from one another. Their cross-shaped floor plan with an internal circulation core offers well-lit and spacious apartments with openings on three sides.
The arrangement and composition of the volumes create a complex of related building structures, which form a whole despite the varied conditions of the site. Multiple visual connections and views open up the outdoor spaces, helping to achieve the intended density with a site-specific scale.
Location Wädenswil, Switzerland
Programme 10 building volumes, 285 apartments with 1.5–5.5 room apartments, 1 shared apartment for assisted living Foundation Bühl, 1 double kindergarden, 1 day care center, 7 office spaces
Competition 2-phases 2014, 1st Prize
Planning/Construction 2015–2021–2023
Client Hangenmoos AG, Wädenswil
Gross Floor Area 59‘650 m2
Team G/G Planning/Construction:
Christian Maggioni (Team Manager), Daniela Schadegg (Project Manager),
Franziska Bächer, Stefanie Bittig, Christoph Dober, Andy Gratwohl, Dana Hemmi, Leyla Ilman, Lilla Kis, Christoph Lay, Carlo Magnaguagno, Anne Spiegler, Lukas Taller, Urh Urbancic, Philippe Volpe
Competition: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Rodrigo Jorge, Andy Gratwohl,
Leyla Ilman
Competition Revision:
Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Thomas Möckel, Leyla Ilman, Christoph Dober, Milica Vrbaski
Construction Management Hotz Partner AG SIA, Wädenswil
The new multi-purpose building replaces the former “Rail Transport Hall 1”, designed by Otto Dreyer, from the founding years of the Swiss Museum of Transport. The new structure is intended to house several uses, as its name suggests. Like its predecessor, it provides exhibition spaces at ground floor level, now for changing exhibitions alongside the continuing display of rail transport items. Furthermore, the ground floor of the multi-purpose building features a welcoming second entrance area for the museum complex facing Haldenstrasse and the railway station “Verkehrshaus Luzern”, which opened in 2007. Connected to this are also a shop and other entrances for the uses in the upper floors.
On the first floor, three new conference rooms are created as extension of the current conference functions located in the “Futurecom” building. From the foyer the participants have a view into the high exhibition space and also out to the “Arena”. The three floors above are reserved for office use. They are arranged around an elevated green patio and primarily serve the museum administration as well as associated organizations and exhibition partners. The basement not only contains additional utility spaces, but also the new central energy plant of the entire museum complex – a heat pump supplied by lake water.
The new volume is larger than the preceding building and approaches the height of the adjacent existing IMAX movie theatre building. The polygonal plan shape reaches over to the cylinder structure with open air balconies. Together, they form an interstitial space for lighting and logistics. Toward Haldenstrasse, the building cantilevers above a weather protected zone at the entrance and an outside exhibition area. Access for locomotives to the existing “Rail Transport Hall 2&3” stays open.
High structural requirements imposed on the foundation by the difficult substrate as well as the desired column-free exhibition hall with a width of up to 30 m justify the choice of reinforced concrete as building material for the load-bearing construction and the stairway cores. The floor slabs of the offices provide the necessary thermal inertia and accommodate the heating loops of the thermal activated building system (TABS) as well as acoustic absorber elements – thus eliminating the need for further cladding while optimizing the room height. Insulation thickness of up to 30 cm and a moderate proportion of openings with ribbon windows are expected to result in good energy consumption figures. The new building is certified according to Minergie-P.
In analogy to the versatile usage of the building, various and different demands must also be met by the facade envelope. In addition to thermal insulation and summer sun protection, the exterior wall should also be acoustically effective, i.e. dampen reflections of road noise in the direction of the “Arena” and the residential buildings further up the slope. Like most of the buildings in the museum complex, it has a metal facade. In the case of the multi-purpose building, this consists of standardized metal cassettes, such as are frequently used as support structures in industrial construction. The perforated sheet metal, in combination with the insulating layers behind it, meet the mentioned requirements and form the concealing, yet see-through and translucent dress, which also acts as a brise-soleil and, moreover, serves as a support for the photovoltaic elements.
Applying photovoltaics not only on the roof but also on the facades is a challenge for the design and still also for the acceptance. The monocrystalline PV elements are distributed in varying density according to the different exposures of the facades. The arrangement in groups of eight elements, each with a gap, was developed with the artist and geometry engineer Urs Beat Roth. The layout of the panels, superimposed on the ribbon windows and the grid of the metal cassettes, results in a variable interplay. It is an attempt to make the useful energy producers, which are nevertheless often deemed unsightly, an integral part of the façade design, without compromising their efficiency through coatings or custom glazing.
