Wiel Arets Architects

Europaallee ‘Site D’ . Zürich

This new building is an integral component of ‘Europaallee’, a currently emerging district adjacent to Zürich’s central train station. A plinth of retail programming anchors the project to its site, while its upper volumes consist of flexible office spaces that, due to their shallow depth and efficient façade grid, can be occupied by several individual companies or a larger singular tenant.

These dual programs posed the challenge of creating two unique lighting and spatial requirements within this prominently sited building. The main entry has been positioned along the parallel ‘Europaaallee’, and opens onto the ground floor’s main retail and circulation spaces. From the ground floor, a central staircase complemented by two ramping escalators traverses and connects these areas. Foreseeing a possible conversion into future residential units, the building’s flexible structure was designed to allow for such a repurpose of its program. The resulting silhouette, and the alignment of its highest points with the trackside façades of the two adjacent plots, will ensure a powerful and unified building amid the area’s planned structures, further defining the distinguished context of the surrounding ‘Europaallee’.

Location
Zürich, Switzerland
Program
Office, Retail
Size
20.000m2
Date of design
2012-2013
Date of completion
2017-2019

Project team
Wiel Arets, Alexis Bikos, Jelle Homburg, Jochem Homminga, Boris Wolf, Roel van der Zeeuw, Tieme Zwartbol
Collaborators
Marcos Romero, Olivier Brinckman

Client
SBB Immobilien
Consultants
Amstein + Walthert AG, JägerPartner AG SIA/USIC, B+P Baurealisation AG, GKP Fassadentechnik AG, 3D Studio Prins