Dario Wohler Architekten

Description

The former fire brigade building of the Dübendorf military airfield, in which the army once kept fire engines, is now located on the grounds of the Zurich Innovation Park. The fire brigade building, which dates back to 1939, is part of the listed development surrounding the military airfield, along with a long chain of hangars and operations buildings. The conceptual starting point for planning the conversion was the duality of stone walls and wooden roof truss found in the existing building. This mix of materials was retained and conceptually strengthened by placing an independent wooden structure inside the existing stone shell which replaces the old, sprawling support structure while adding a wooden lining to the building shell. The inserted glued laminated timber trusses with a conical cross-section span the wide main room, which can now be experienced in its entirety. The support structure takes into account the existing composition of the façades and at the same time manages to bridge the considerable span as efficiently as possible, so that a flexible work space is created underneath. The complex wooden configuration was made possible through the use of computer-controlled, high-precision manufacturing methods. A lateral concrete block accommodates toilets and the technical room while serving as a load-bearing element for the large conference room above, which is reached from the ground floor via a spiral staircase in steel.