The former Swiss Re office building is situated at the Badenerstrasse in central Zurich. The existing building was completed in the early 80’s and is in desperate need of a remodel in order to house the new KPMG headquarters. To retain its zoning privileges, it is stripped down to its bare structure to be rebuilt as clearly visible volumes in its surrounding.
Project Name: Swiss Life I KPMG HQ
Studio Name: GRUNER&FRIENDS
Design Team: Patrice Gruner, Bianca Arciero, Goeff Eberle, Rahul Girish, Thomas Krall, Tizian Gruner
Area: 45’000 m2
Year: completed 2021
Location: Zurich City I Switzerland
Scope: Façade Architecture
Clients: Swiss Life, KPMG
General Contractor: Allreal AG
General Planner: Gruner AG
Consultants: Aepli Metallbau AG, Gruner AG, Werkhof AG
Photography Credits: DANIEL HAGER PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM GmbH
The minimalist design approach emphasises the vertical double columns and expresses the structures true appearance to the outside. By projecting the geographic world map onto the floorpan, the building is divided into two main areas: “Generic Offices” and “Collaboration Spaces.”
The “Generic Offices”, elevated to the top floors, are clad with rough heavy concrete elements. The use of highly reflective metals on the ground and penthouse floors symbolises lightness and transparency towards the more public “Collaboration Spaces.” A mirrored blade marks the transition between these two zones, occasionally extending out to shield the entrances in an inviting gesture.
ABOUT US
GRUNER&FRIENDS is an international practice specializing in architecture, urbanism, research and design. Patrice Gruner established the office in Basel from where he and his friends operate worldwide.
GRUNER&FRIENDS develops multi-scale projects within a network of international specialists and partners in close cooperation with the clients. Through careful research the office identify the physical (site) and nonphysical (cultural, economical, social) CONTEXT, in order to create unique CONCEPTS. The design process evolves into Architecture with distinctive CONTENT which adds value to contemporary life
