Rank 2 at Signal Station 2
After intensive construction work at Bahnhofplatz Süd in Winterthur, the development focus is now shifting to the northern end of the station area. By 2023, SBB will be constructing the new Signal Station 2 with seventy apartments, two office floors, shops and restaurants as well as 500 bicycle parking spaces in the basement. In the project competition, Lüchinger+Meyer was involved in the structural and façade planning of the ARGE Made In / Caretta+Weidmann team. Unfortunately, the design “Equilibrum” had to be content with the 2nd rank in the final cleaning round. Nevertheless, we are pleased about this excellent placement in this demanding process and the jury’s appreciation of the “architecturally expressive language” of the project.
The supporting structure formed the generator of the building typology of the design. The existing lower storeys and the confined situation of the construction site between rail and road had a decisive influence on its design.
A composite solution was proposed as the design principle. Steel frames are provided with an axle dimension of 6.7m. These consist of beams in the ceiling plane and a pair of A-shaped supports. Prefabricated hollow concrete elements, which form the ceiling levels, span between the frames. On the track side, only every third frame support runs to the floor. A Vierendeel beam formed in the façade plane over the entire length and height of the building transfers the loads to the adjacent transverse frames.
The technical details of the building envelope were derived from the overall volumetry. The façade on the city side consists of staggered strip glazing with steel frame elements in front and the balcony strip running along the entire length of the building. The large-format frame elements are made of recycled steel. The Per Ron façade functions as a cost-efficient mullion-transom system.
The exhibition of the competition works in the conference hall of the Technopark Winterthur is open from 3rd to 11th of October 2019 from Monday to Friday from 4pm to 8pm.
