ERP Architekten

Description

Formerly occupied by the offices of the Migros pension fund, the building was converted for residential use. The 1969 structure has basically been divided into three parts. The over-height ground floor accommodating a sales area forms the base for a seven-storey tower on Badenerstrasse as well as a two-storey annex on Bachmattstrasse, with a new attic storey in timber construction. The building was stripped down to its support structure and refitted with earthquake-proof wall panels, lightweight interior walls and floating screed floors. The tower contains mainly apartments with two-and-a-half rooms, while duplexes are housed in the annex.  

The pre-existing façade with its exposed aggregate concrete parapets and in-site concrete wall panels was given a layer of exterior insulation underneath a rear-ventilated metal skin. The outward appearance with the characteristic window and spandrel bands was thus retained and yet given added sophistication with subtly differentiated façade cladding as well as the »elongating« extension on Badenerstrasse. Recessed loggias in the tower provide noise-reduced ventilation. Interest has been added to the very visible roof area on the first floor with varied and extensive vegetation and fills. The trees lining Bachmattstrasse create an appropriate transition from the urban street space to the public use on the ground floor, giving the new Bachmattstrasse 59 a high profile.