Description

The “Steinfelsareal“ is located in Zurich’s former industrial district, where conversions have already created a strong mix of living and commercial uses. The existing mix was augmented to an even greater degree in the new complex by not only stacking the different uses but also creating many different, interchangeable floor plans. These floor plans are therefore capable of responding to shifts in demand for certain uses and make it possible to avoid vacant units.

The ensemble is composed of very different building types: at the center, two rows of point blocks are grouped around an inner courtyard, which is sheltered by two rows that enclose it, the east row and the “basilica.“ The latter is a double row with a 5-story access hall in the middle, which can be reassigned to new uses according to the occupants’ wishes. Depending on their orientation, these rows contain a variety of floor plans. In lieu of a roof, they are topped by the “cloud-hanger,“ a three-story, 165-m-long slab, which is cantilevered in a spectacular fashion over top of the existing Cinemax theater on the street side.

Commercial and living spaces are arranged side by side – in the cloud-hanger, residential maisonettes are strung along commercial units that are twice as wide – or stacked one above the other: all plinth stories are used as 2-story commercial spaces with galleries, allowing for a wide variety of uses by virtue of their size and height. In some cases, flexibility of use is achieved through a free disposition of walls within the framework of the structural system, for example, on the north side of the basilica, where division forms a living or office unit as required. In other cases, the floor plans are reduced both in form and disposition to allow for residential or studio uses, for example, in the cloud-hanger.

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.