The new Erdgas Zürich AG building in Altstetten, Zurich, is used by the operator as a works yard and central store, as well as an office building. The cube-shaped structure is situated close to the Europa Bridge and the A1 motorway, which carry heavy traffic loads. The architects responded to this special situation as follows: they arranged the building along the western boundary of the property and designed closed façades on the western and northern sides that define the character of the building. The building has a basement with a usable floor area of approximately 3,400 m². The four-storey office block above it, however, has a floor area of 1500 m². The flat ceiling slabs, which are pre-stressed along the line of the supporting columns, are characteristic of the building’s style. The column grid measures 10.6 x 10.0 m. The basement ceiling slab is designed to bear an imposed load of 15 kN/m² (1500 kg/m²) and can thus support a heavy goods lorry with a total weight of 40 tonnes. In the entrance areas, the supporting structure is also an architectural feature and is therefore constructed in fair-faced concrete. For the excavation pit, it was necessary to lower the water table over a large area using filter wells.