Zurich – Graber Pulver Architekten from Zurich have won the City of Zurich’s competition for the planned new construction of the Juch-Areal recycling center in Zurich-Altstetten. It is to become a lighthouse project of the circular construction industry.
Graber Pulver Architekten AG from Zurich has won the City of Zurich’s architectural competition for the planned new construction of the Juch-Areal recycling center of Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich(ERZ) in Zurich-Altstetten. With the new building, the Zurich Office for Structural Engineering and the ERZ want to create a pioneering project in the recycling of building components, according to a media release.
According to the report, they want to “explore to the maximum the possibilities of reusing building components and the potential of circular construction in public buildings.” For this reason, the competition projects submitted should feature as high a proportion of reused components as possible.
For example, most of the building material for the winning project came from the immediate vicinity of Zurich. Used reinforced concrete slabs are used in the plant building and in the hall floor. The walls are made of wooden frame structures insulated with old books, magazines and clothes. Discarded scaffolding is repurposed as storage racks. The existing hall structure is to be rebuilt only slightly adapted.
The facades are protected from the weather by panels of recycled glass and aluminum, as well as old kitchen covers, doors and tabletops. The greening of the facades is intended to provide habitat for plants and animals and to provide local heat reduction.
By using old components, the city of Zurich saves nearly 600 tons of carbon dioxide compared to conventional new construction. This corresponds to a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas.
Second place went to Studio Hammer from Basel. Third place went to the Zurich-based consortium Studio Burkhardt and Lucas Michael Architektur. ko
