<Hardhof apartment houses, Bülach, 2013–2019, Competition 1st prize

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In 2000, the Bülachguss foundry in the north of Bülach, where Sulzer started producing in 1920, had shut down. Combined with the adjacent area of the Bülach Glassworks, Bülach-North was created. The study commission for the urban design plan of this new neighborhood (Diener & Diener Architects with Vogt Landscape Architects, 2013) defined the transition from the existing neighbourhood of single-family homes to the new clusters of residential buildings of different heights. In the park, groups of trees between the courtyard developments can be read as reaching out from the adjacent woodland. Opening up the blocks fosters the interlocking of the heterogeneous surroundings and the housing development, which was divided into a total of 8 new building plots. Lower volumes of four to five full stories mediate between the seven-story new buildings of the new neighborhood and the single-family houses situated to the east.

The courtyard development, which Diener & Diener designed, includes three houses and represents, the southern peak of the former Bülachguss area, not far from the Bülach train station. To the east, the cluster adjoins the Gussstrasse, which connects the new buildings; to the west, it bounds the heavily trafficked Schaffhauserstrasse - address of the foundry - which runs in a slight curve. Between the old building and the residential building, the trees are defining space.

The two seven-story apartment buildings come together at an angle on Schaffhauserstrasse. The facades are structured over their entire height by wide pilasters and vertical windows set in between. This enhances the physical expression of the angle.

The apartments are accessed directly through the living space. Laterally offset a room like a loggia adjoins the living room, still allowing plenty of light. The bedrooms face the courtyard.

The third, six-story residential building, together with the corner figure, encloses an inner courtyard. It already stands in the larger green surrounding, which extends from the courtyard over the Gussstrasse into the smaller parceled plots of the one- and two-family houses. The apartments of this solitaire are oriented to both sides. Their continuous balconies face the courtyard and are rounded at the ends. With strong columns, railings made of twisted narrow steel bands and textile curtains, the courtyard façade of light-colored clinker brick appears more filigree and animated than the monumental walls of the other two apartment buildings. Especially in summer, the balconies, living rooms and courtyard combine to form a sequence of rooms. In the mezzanine, the hilly topography of the courtyard periphery provides protection from the views of passers-by.

Competition: 1st prize, 2013
Date: 2016 - 2019
Client: Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Siat, Credit Suisse Asset Management represented by: Allreal General Contractors, Glattpark
Location: Gussstrasse 40 - 54, 8180 Bülach
Program: 3 residential buildings with 6-7 floors, 102 rental apartments, mainly 3.5 and 4.5, but also 2.5 and 5.5 room apartments. The development includes an underground garage with 73 parking spaces
Floor area GF (SIA 416): 11577.30 m²
Total contractor: Allreal Generalunternehmung, Glattpark
Certificate: Minergie-Eco

1 07 Bülach flat 4x5
1 URBAN BÜLACH4
4 02 10 Bülach flat 4x5 3
2 SIT BÜLACH
3 GRU EG BÜLACH
7 GRU 3OG BÜLACH
5 06 2 Bülach flat 1x2
6 12 Bülach flat 4x5 eng
11 SCHN BÜLACH
7 00 D&D Bülach flat
8 05 Bülach flat 1x2
10 ANS BÜLACH
8 GRU 3OG ZOOM BÜLACH
9 04 Bülach flat 4x5
4 GRU EG ZOOM BÜLACH
10 01 b Bülach flat
11 Bülach flat 4x5 hoch