Graber Pulver Architekt:innen

Description

Waste matter and wood are incinerated in Hagenholz (Zurich North) to produce thermal energy. This heat is transported to the Josefstrasse Energy Center along a newly built underground connecting line. Over a period of five years, while still in operation, the former waste incineration plant on Josefstrasse was converted into an energy center. Its function is to store and further process thermal energy and supply heat to the districts of Industrie and Aussersihl. In addition to the technical and functional challenges of this ambitious conversion, there were volumetric and urban-planning questions to be answered regarding the center’s integration into the existing residential district, as well as questions concerning the architectural design of the building’s shell. The load-bearing structure of concrete and steel, partially extant, partially new, is encased in bluish cast glass. The glass plates are held in place by mill-finish aluminium girdles spanning the building. Offsets in the vertically layered façade suggest the complex stacking of spaces and machines hidden within the body of the building. At night, illumination of the structure casts a delicate play of shadows on the glass surface. The building becomes the architectural crystallization of the city’s infrastructure network.