Review 2020.7 – The face of the railway track arena
The finalization of the extravagant glass arched facade of the railway track arena at Zurich’s main station was one of the highlights of the past year for our facade specialists. In a development marathon lasting 6 years, the ambition postulated by Made In Sàrl, the architecture in the competition design could be formulated until it was ready for execution. Today, the double-curved glass block façade presents itself as the “face of the track area” and as a “lively backdrop in Zurich, the place of arrival, day and night”.
More than 8,000 glass blocks of the facade are configured as hybrid elements consisting of half shells in cast glass and a conventional insulating glass in the core. A stainless steel grating sheet integrated into the joints forms the façade structure. The façade specialists from Lüchinger + Meyer developed and designed the glass brick façade in close cooperation with the architects and the total contractor PORR Suisse.
At the same time, the project provides a small, sympathetic link to our office history. In order to make the track arena the built closure of the station, the glass wall on the station side adopts the angle of the existing platform roof’s columns – probably the most important project of Lüchinger+Meyer’s founding period.
(Photos: Anna-Lena Walther, Walter Mair)
