2nd Prize Central Station, Zurich, CH
The program required restaurants and commercial space at ground floor level, office and services in the base of the building and three different residential typologies (apartments for urban progressives, business apartments and apartment-sharing communities).
Located between the stockyard and the new Sihlpost buildings, the project reconciles a range of urban scales. To the east, it continues the current “urbanisme discontinue” by adopting the roof height and scale of the neighboring project. To the west, the 40-meter high vertical tower establishes a dialogue with the two adjacent high-rise buildings as a means of reinforcing the urban nature of the stockyard. The design of the project varies according to the position of the viewer. From Kanonengasse it appears as a large volume which blocks the perspective. From Lagerstrasse it is a slender vertical element which marks the entrance to the square. From the point of view of pedestrians the square is defined by the intersection of the diagonal with the Kanonengasse. As it rises, the building opens out, offering a wider view upon the center of the square. This also improves the amount of sunlight falling on block F. In contrast with the extroverted way in which the square reveals itself to pedestrians, the closed nature of the upper levels creates an introverted external space.
