Zurich, Switzerland

Laboratory Complex GLC ETH

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology plans a new laboratory complex (GLC) in the center of Zurich. Various fields of research are combined to one research and development unit in the new department „Health Science and Technology“ (D-HEST) The new building expands the existing complex and follows its severe geometry. The expanded complex is centered around a new courtyard. By a tight integration with the existing situation, the intervention adds value to the entire complex. Synergies between the different departments are optimized. Similar to a cloister of a monastery, the intervention defines a calm inner courtyard, with the most valuable building of the site resting in its middle, the Scherrer lecture hall. A highly developed world of various types of laboratories, technology platforms and office space orbit this inner garden, its deep soil and rectangle of sky above. Tall trees with light crowns order the quadrangle. The clay ground binds the otherwise very technology-dominated world to the earth. The courtyard becomes a pulic garden, a green island inbetween the different institutions. The entire complex rests on a high plinth from the 70ies. A generous landscape of stairs is carved out of this base of stone to connect the level of the courtyard, the entrances and the terraces with the streetlevel. These stairs serve as the main adress of the complex, its vastness is a reference to the public character of its hosted institutions.

The use of glassbricks as a facade material has a long tradition in the construction of industrial- and university buildigns. Exactly the closeness to such known references motivates us to rethink these facades and improve their appearance, their technology and their sustainability. A double skin construction provides a layer of insulating air, the glassbrick panels provide a mild light, while the ribbon windows interrupted by openable air vents provide view into the city and fresh air. In combination these arrangements give the facade a new appearance. The pure glass facade achieves a certain gravity, a self-confident appearance that suits the representative character of this institution.The reduction and robustness of the materiality reflect the urban tenor of the project.

Through the central courtyard, one enters the entrance hall of the GLC. A double-helix, the main stair, generously connects all the laboratory floors. A open spacestructure prevails. Massive cores give the space a generous rhytm. Rings of circulation lying upon each other unify the entire complex. Open Space Labs and office space connect to the circulation system. Few columns with wide spans emphasize the horizontal openness. An openness, in wich the different spaces of the GLC are tightly connected to their courtyard they encircle and the city of Zurich they lie in.

Europaconcorsi Beta

Laboratory Complex GLC ETH