Badenerstrasse | Weyell Zipse

Eingeladener Studienauftrag für Wohnungsbau, Zürich, 2024

Landschaft: BÖE studio
Structure: wh-p
Renders: OUT OF RAM

Who doesn’t love it – Zurich’s Brupbacherplatz?

Whether it’s for an after-work apéro or ice cream with the kids, people love spending time here at any hour of the day. But it wasn’t always this way—since the highway was rerouted away from Weststrasse, the quality of the urban space has improved dramatically. In addition to newly created plazas like Brupbacherplatz, small, permeable urban spaces play an important role in the area’s livability and urban climate.

The existing development near Brupbacherplatz is small-scale and permeable, offering both social and climatic benefits, such as cold air circulation and visual openness. The planned new development aims to preserve and build upon these qualities. Therefore, the site will not be fully built over but instead divided into two parts. The resulting alleyway becomes a multi-functional urban space—neighborhood lane, green courtyard, outdoor foyer, or favorite terrace. This creates a porous urban design that allows for a variety of uses without imposing a rigid structure.

An L-shaped, five-story building and a six-story structure at the prominent corner of the block emphasize the significance of this unique location. These two buildings are connected by private outdoor areas that also serve as sound barriers to the noisy main road.

Typical architectural elements of the neighborhood are reinterpreted and continued: natural stone bases, diagonally cut building corners with balconies, bay windows facing the main street, and active, public-oriented ground-floor uses. Climatic aspects such as ventilation, sunlight exposure, and surface permeability are also central design elements. Dividing the buildings enables differentiated use of outdoor spaces and airflow from the prevailing northeastern summer winds, bringing a cooling breeze on hot days.

The project aims for a densified yet sensitive evolution of the neighborhood’s structure, one that strengthens urban, climatic, and social qualities alike.