New Folding Glass Roof for the Historic City Swimming Hall, Zurich

Client Amt für Hochbauten Stadt Zürich
Architects Ernst Niklaus Fausch Partner, Zürich
Planning 2009-2010
Execution 2010-2012
Construction cost 40.5 Mio. Fr.
Services Folding Glass Roof:
Design phase
Tender documentation phase
Execution phase
Photos Hannes Henz
Ariel Huber, Lausanne
Lüchinger+Meyer
Awards Award for "gute Bauten Stadt Zürich 2011-2015"
Award "best architects 16"
Gestaltungspreis der Wüstenrot Stiftung (Auszeichnung) 2017
Publication - Oberlicht neu gefaltet - Die fünfte Fassade
Topics SportFacadesStructural glassRefurbishmentConservation

After almost seventy years of service, the city swimming hall has been completely renewed. The glass roof, removed in the 1970s, was rebuilt. The project team focused on the original architecture but was reinterpreting details, material and functions. In order to achieve a maximum grade of translucency, laminated glass elements have been developed with metal strips embedded in the interlayer material. These metal strips couple two laminated glass units together. After the lamination process, the coupling metal strips are to be bent. In accordance with the bending process, the glass elements are shaped and can be installed on site. This final connection detail enabled the design team to reduce the opaque connector line to a minimum.