spillmann echsle architekten

The elongated building site in the outer Seefeld district spans its narrow end from the lakeside promenade to the Weinegg neighborhood, bordered by railway tracks and the thoroughfares of Bellerivestrasse and Seestrasse. The two longitudinal boundaries of the plot are defined by the listed Tiefenbrunnen station, built in 1892, and a car wash facility. A new, proposed structure acts as a landmark, establishing a focal point where Zurich meets Zollikon.

The architectural language of this commercial development, with a length of 135 meters, references buildings by Jakob Zweifel and Franz Füeg along Bellerivestrasse, following the tradition of these post-war commercial headquarters. The finely structured urban volume of the proposed building adopts a vertical segmentation: an elevated, high basement level, a central section, and a high attic level, distinctly designed as a crowning structure. The attic's size is compressed, which develops a head-end configuration and is followed by a longitudinal development made possible by an incision beneath the permissible standard floor height. The head-end harmonizes with the existing station building to shape a new urban station square.

The commercial building integrates public underground Park & Ride facilities, as well as segments of the car wash. Commercial and retail spaces can be found on the ground level, while the attic accommodates a restaurant with expansive views over the lake.

Two off-centered cores structure the open floors borne by concrete lumbar supports. A glass building envelope with a 1.5-meter grid provides both views through and into the volume, surrounded by irregularly and playfully positioned vertical façade pilasters made of anodized aluminum.