Zurich: Green light for "Quai Zurich
Zurich Insurance Group has received the building permit for the conversion and new construction of its headquarters at Mythenquai 2 in Zurich. The demolition of the buildings that are not listed in the inventory of protected art and cultural heritage sites is already underway.
According to Zurich, no appeals against the building decision have been received. After the Zurich City Council unanimously approved the private design plan "Quai Zurich" last year, the project can now be realized. Since November 28, 2016, demolition work has been underway on Breitingerstrasse and Alfred-Escher-Strasse.
The insurer has been headquartered at Mythenquai in Zurich for 115 years. The headquarters comprises several buildings from different eras. According to plans by Viennese architect Adolf Krischanitz, the "Quai Zurich" project will preserve all the listed buildings and add new ones. This will create a new ensemble and increase the number of workplaces at the site to 1,300.
Mythenquai will not only provide workplaces: "With a café and public ground-floor areas and courtyards, we are also making a contribution to enriching neighborhood life," says Hans-Peter Bissegger, who is managing the overall project. Zurich is also contributing around eight million CHF to the redevelopment of the Enge harbor area.
Three buildings of the existing corporate headquarters are listed in the inventory of protected objects of art and cultural history. The project by architect Krischanitz places a new U-shaped building figure between them. The interaction of the inventoried and the new buildings creates a comb-like structure with a new entrance front on Alfred-Escher-Strasse. The old headquarters on Mythenquai will again be exposed and will appear in its original setting as a solitaire. The building along Marsstrasse will also be restored to its original state. The two glazed wings of the new building on either side of the existing cross-building in the inner courtyard project above the existing eaves height of the block. They thus give the ensemble a new silhouette that provides a prestigious backdrop for the valuable listed building stock.
The Quai Zurich project is striving for several sustainability certificates: Minergie-Eco (renovations), Minergie-P-Eco (new buildings), LEED Platinum and the 2000-watt site certification for the entire project. In the operational phase, Zurich intends to use lake water for heating and cooling and significantly reduce energy consumption compared to today. The energy supply is to come entirely from renewable energy sources. Construction is expected to last until 2020. (ah)
