Study contract for Manegg in Zurich Wollishofen decided
The "silberpappel" project by Neff Neumann Architekten and Schmid Landschaftsarchitekten has won the study contract for the "Manegg Mitte" site in Zurich Wollishofen.
In December 2014, the Baugenossenschaft des Eidgenössischen Personals Zürich (BEP) acquired the property of GDZ AG, one of a total of three plots of the "Manegg Mitte" site in Zurich Wollishofen. A new mixed-use development is to be built on the site, which has a total area of 16,000 square meters. To this end, BEP has concluded a development agreement with Steiner AG.
Plans include around 100 new cooperative apartments and commercial space on the first floor for BEP, conversion and addition of more storeys to the existing GDZ property, and around 150 condominiums developed by Steiner AG. The site allows for a development of around 38,000 square meters of gross floor area and a building height of up to 25 meters.
Starting in summer 2015, BEP and Steiner conducted a two-stage study commission procedure. The procedure was announced anonymously among eight invited architectural firms, each of which had to strengthen itself with a landscape architecture firm. The main challenge was to implement the high density permitted in the Manegg development area under the given framework conditions and requirements.
After the first stage, the evaluation committee, chaired by Peter Ess, former director of the Office of Structural Engineering of the City of Zurich, came to the conclusion that none of the projects was able to solve the task satisfactorily. Based on this finding, the jury decided not to conclude the study contract and to invite three of the architectural teams to revise their contributions.
In the second stage of the procedure, the evaluation committee has now recommended the project by Neff Neumann Architekten with Schmid Landschaftsarchitekten, both from Zurich, for further work. In the opinion of the panel, this team of planners succeeded best in solving the complex tasks from the program of the study contract with the required quality. In a next step, the project will be further developed as the basis for the supplementary design plan and the building permit phase. Construction is scheduled to start in 2019 and the first apartments are expected to be ready for occupation in 2021. (ah)
