Caruso St John Architects . photos: © D&R.Dürr . Video © Tobias Koelman . + world-architects
Some more images can be found here: https://www.baunetz.de/meldungen/Meldungen-Eishockey-Arena_von_Caruso_St_John_8056809.html
The commission for the Swiss Life Arena was won in a competition organised by the City of Zurich in partnership with the ZSC Lions ice hockey club. The building contains a 12,000-seat arena that will be the home for the team, as well as a practice rink, a business centre, a large club restaurant and car parking. The site in Altstetten is located at the edge of the city, in a place where the urban structure has run out. The new arena marks the approach to the city with a public building that makes a festive place for ice hockey.
The arena is organised on one level, avoiding the superimposition of long-span structures, and resulting in the most efficient building volume. Buttresses on the arena’s long sides support steel trusses that span east-west over the main ice hockey and practice rinks. At ground level, the depth of the buttresses forms arcades that run the length of the arena’s long east and west façades. All entrances – for fans, VIPs and vehicles – are accommodated within these generous circulation spaces. At the south end of the arena, where most fans will arrive, the arcades open into monumental stairs that lead directly to a large south-facing public terrace. During match days, this terrace provides a generous outdoor space that is not available at ground level. Outside match days, the terrace could be used for celebrations and trade events, thus intensifying and diversifying the use of the arena. The equivalent space at the north of the site is a densely landscaped courtyard that provides an exterior amenity space for the VIP and press facilities.
The primary structure of buttresses and trusses is covered by a cladding of in-situ-cast concrete elements; it refers to monumental classicism, as well as having light textile qualities. On the east and west façades, the cladding elements form undulations that press into the space between the buttresses, resembling a large hanging drapery. The light tone of the cladding will be activated by natural light, which will play on the drapery and on the fluting of its modelled surface. The cladding stops in a gently scalloped profile at the top of the arcade, the interior of which is clad in purple mosaic tiles. The emblematic figure of the building, with qualities between a monument and a tent, clearly marks out a place for public gathering that can act as a gateway to the city.
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