Housing Greencity, Zurich CH
EM2N, 2017
The elongated plot A forms the start to the new urban district ‘GreenCity.Zürich’ and is strongly influenced by the neighbouring infrastructure elements of the street and the Sihltal railway line. This essentially ʻimpossible situationʼ was used as the impulse to develop a narrow, elongated building with an expressive character that can develop a sense of identity.
The unique geometry of the plot leads to predominantly east-west oriented apartments, which for noise reasons are only ventilated on the eastern side. So that the apartments can be properly ventilated in a direction facing away from the source of noise incisions are made in the building volume at two places. The apartments that border these incisions face in two directions, with an additional south-facing part. The lower end building offers a view of the slopes of the Albis mountain chain from the communal square. Here, to ensure protection against noise, the apartments and studios are organised around an internal courtyard.
On account of the exposed location between the railway and the street and the lack of a specific outdoor space is provided a communal space within the building. By means of a ‘street in the air’ on the 3rd floor, i.e. halfway up the building, all the apartments are connected to this communal space and to the shared roof garden in the south. Garden staircases, hobby rooms and flexible intermediate spaces that can be used in a variety of ways are connected to form a collective spatial figure.
The building, which is almost 170 metres long, is massively constructed using a wall and slab system. The gridded façade helps contain the long volume of the building and emphasizes its sculptural quality. The motif of interwoven vertical and horizontal bands produces depth and a feeling of volume. In combination with windows of different sizes this leads to a facade composition that is richly varied, yet also calm. The ground floor is used for commercial functions. It takes up the robust nature of the street and the railway line and is made as a concrete plinth. The passageways leading through the building and the entrances located in them are announced by metal framing. The communal space and the ‘street in the air’ can be read in the façade through their generously sized window openings.
Competition: 2012
Project start: 2012
Completion: 2017
Gross floor area: 14,950 m2
Floors: 6 and 7 storeys
Units: 198
Client: Losinger Marazzi AG
Architect: EM2N
