Geistlich Areal in Schlieren
Winner of 1st prize, Restricted Competition 2015
The Geistlich Area in Schlieren adjacent to the former industrial areas, belongs to one of the largest development areas of the region. Here, former industrial land is converted into residential and commercial spaces. For the development of such areas the question is not only raised about its future development, but also to what qualities the industrial heritage should connect to.
How can the industrial commerciality, that has been locally dominant until now, be further developed and transferred as a symbol of collective identity into an adequate form of representation?
For the final construction field of the area, an office tower including apartments is planned. Proposed is a compact volume, which opens up to the future park in a U-shape form. The slight set back of the entrance at the Geistlichplatz creates a clearly identifiable address. The position and formation of the entrance, together with a possible addition of an arcade at the head of the construction area allow for an adequate public appearance. The core part of the new building consists of the centrally located piazza on the ground floor.
The piazza is directly linked with the open atrium and receives natural light. The attached floors with their formal and informal meeting zones thus receive an intensive, spatial relation and active interconnection. The interplay with the piazza and the restaurant area in the south east allow for various uses and scenarios. West of the piazza are the laboratories and workshops. As a place for prototypical development, an idea foundry is experienced here.
E2A Piet Eckert und Wim Eckert Architekten
Client: Geistlich Immobilia AG, Schlieren
Team: Piet Eckert, Wim Eckert with Nils Döring and André Albuquerque Passos, Bojana Miskeljin, Adrien Meuwly, Edward Vincent, Corbin Jenkins
Collaboration: Structural Engineer: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG, Zurich
MEP: Ernst Basler + Partner AG, Zurich