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Herzog & de Meuron unveils “hovering” building for the University of Zurich

The University of Zurich has announced plans to commission a building from Swiss firms Herzog & de Meuron and B+P Baurealisation.

The Forum UZH will be located at the university’s city campus in Zurich, at the corner of Gloriastrasse and Rämistrasse. It will include a library, teaching rooms, sports facilities, a cafeteria and public spaces.

The lecture halls will replace facilities for medical students at the University Hospital and the Gloriarank campus, which will be demolished.

The forum will be used by students studying law, modern languages, and business and economics. When completed in 2027, it will be able to accommodate 6,500 students and 1,100 employees, and provide around 700 work spaces for students

Herzog & de Meuron’s design includes below-ground lecture halls with 4,000 seats. The company says a trapezoid research building will "hover" above the hall, and will house offices, seminar rooms and a library with a two-storey reading room.

Herzog & de Meuron says: "Only by placing many of the uses in an elevated building were we able to bring daylight into the terraced plinth and make room for the public space that we were aiming for. The inviting atmosphere and the numerous trees will make the large plaza in front of the new building and also the forum itself a new focal point of university and urban life."

Images courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron

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