Zurich: BBZ development focuses more on existing buildings
The Brunnenhof housing estate in Zurich-Oerlikon is to be renovated with a greater focus on preserving existing buildings rather than just new ones, as was previously the case. The concept with 350 new apartments comes from Pool Architekten.
Pool Architekten have been awarded first prize for the study contract "Renovation of the BBZ housing estate" in Zurich. The project concerns the main housing estate of the Brunnenhof Zurich building cooperative, which has been undergoing renovation in stages for around 20 years on the basis of a master plan. Around half of the large estate has now been replaced with large-scale new buildings. Now, however, a sustainable approach was sought for the further renewal of the estate in terms of existing buildings, densification and social fabric.
The winning design focuses on continuing to build on the existing settlement structure in stages, retaining a large proportion of the houses and as many trees and green open spaces as possible. Along the neighborhood connections, individual houses will be replaced with significantly larger, more urban new buildings. This is intended to densify the entire settlement to the desired level. The majority of the existing houses will therefore only be renovated with paintbrushes or their floor plans slightly adapted. In order to preserve the many large trees and shrubs, there will be almost no undeveloped basement levels.
Only 40% of the buildings are to be replaced in the course of the further renovation. These additional buildings will create around 350 apartments, around 50 % more than today.
Pool was supported in the design by S2L Landscape Architecture. (aw)
