On the Thurgauerstrasse site, one of Zurich's largest reserves of building land, non-profit developers are creating around 380 apartments, commercial space and climate-responsive open spaces. Sub-area D, developed by WOGENO Zürich and the Stiftung Familienwohnungen SFW, takes on a connecting role within this: a broad mix of apartment types, varied places to meet and a spatial intermingling of residents lay the groundwork for neighbourly exchange and good communal living. Our project POTPOURRI was awarded second prize in the two-stage, anonymous competition.
POTPOURRI draws a deliberate distinction between an urban outer world and a playful inner one: urban volumes towards Thurgauerstrasse, and within, a densely planted arrangement of access galleries that turns circulation into a place of encounter. Step out of your apartment and you find yourself not in a corridor but among plants, seating and neighbours. Apartments ranging from 1.5 to 6.5 rooms, together with commercial units, a day-care centre and a neighbourhood room on the ground floor, bring a variety of people and life stories onto the site and into contact with one another.
Climate protection and climate adaptation are conceived here as a single system rather than a sum of individual measures. The courtyard, with no basement beneath it, follows the sponge-city principle: a natural soil structure, permeable surfaces and decentralised retention areas keep rainwater in circulation and cool the local climate through evaporation. On the buildings, passive measures carry most of the load: green facades, external shading and simple cross-ventilation. The building services remain consistently low-tech, heating comes from the district network, and the roofs carry photovoltaics.
Our thanks go to the project team for the outstanding collaboration and commitment.
Team
Architecture and overall project management: BGP Architekten, Zurich
Landscape architecture: Vetsch Landschaftsarchitekten, Zurich
Structural and fire safety engineering: B3 Kolb, St. Gallen
Building physics and sustainability: EK Energiekonzepte, Zurich
Visualisations: Filippo Bolognese Images, Milan
