The urge upwards
High-rise buildings are booming in Zurich and dividing the population. A visit to the 15th floor of our Executive Board member Stefan Schmid shows what the attraction of tower living is.
From Stefan Schmid's parlour, Zurich-Seebach looks like a toy model, small and cute. Neither the squeak of the trains nor the hum of the trucks penetrates through the thick windows. The silence inside makes the world outside seem even more remote. An urban backdrop, marvellous from cream-coloured seating furniture. "You can even see Alpine swifts up here," says Stefan Schmid. A species of bird that avoids the city floor. The 61-year-old lives just 50 metres above Zurich North, on the 15th floor of a high-rise duo called The Metropolitans, located at Leutschenbachpark. "When I moved in here six years ago, it was doubly exotic," says Schmid. He swapped Zumikon, a low-tax Gold Coast community, for a poorer city district, an atypical direction for a move. In 2015, moreover, there were hardly any high-rise residential buildings in Zurich North. Since then, more towers have been built there. High-above-the-city living was a rarity in Zurich for a long time. In the 1960s and 1970s, the city itself built a few residential towers, the Lochergut for example. Blocks with more than ten storeys were also built in Affoltern and Schwamendingen. They were soon seen as symbols for poorer neighbourhoods.
Towers up to 250 metres high
This image has changed. After the turn of the millennium, private investors built the first towers with expensive flats in Zurich West. With the new popularity of cities, this form of housing has also gained acceptance, says real estate developer Henrik Jason Stump. "Instead of a flat in the Seefeld, some are looking for one in the heights." Currently, the Office of Urban Development is working on a new high-rise guideline. This should significantly expand the zones in which high-rise buildings are allowed. Towers up to 250 metres high could become possible along the railway line. Some architects and urban planners oppose this development. High-rise buildings are too dominant, too inefficient, too unecological. An ETH urban researcher called them "stacked single-family houses". The people of Zurich themselves are divided, as a survey conducted by this newspaper in the context of the city's local elections revealed. A slim majority of 51 per cent are in favour of 250-metre towers. The greatest support is among voters of the FDP and GLP, the lowest among sympathisers of the centre, SVP and AL. The verdict of the housing market, on the other hand, is clear, says tower resident Stefan Schmid. "The high-rise product is very well received." Schmid works as an estate agent himself. About nine years ago he took over the sale of all 212 flats in the planned twin towers of The Metropolitans. They sold unexpectedly well, Schmid says, although there were few comparable. "Every third conversation led to a deal." Soon Schmid was "infected" himself. He secured two flats at once, which he had merged into a single, large one. Many buyers - like himself - had not lived in the city before, says Schmid. "They came from the Lake Zurich communities or even from Graubünden.
High quality building fabric
According to Schmid, the success of The Metropolitans has several reasons: an unusual form of housing, high-quality building fabric, moderate prices. At the time, the flats, ranging in size from 75 to 200 square metres, cost between 600,000 and three million Swiss francs. "Today the price has probably already risen by a third," says Schmid. In the neighbouring Wolkenwerk project, which consists of three towers, two double-storey penthouses are still for sale about a year after opening. Price: around 2.75 million Swiss francs. The rest of the more than 300 flats have been sold or rented. "Most of them were already gone a year before completion," says project developer Stump. Peter Schwehr takes a sceptical view of the Zurich push to the top. The architecture professor at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts does research on high-rise buildings. He sees their main problem in the fact that they have so far "hardly made a contribution to low-cost, high-density living". Their construction costs significantly more than that of five- to six-storey buildings. This is due to the complex construction and accessibility as well as strict requirements, for example, in fire protection. "This creates expensive flats for people who can afford a lot of space," says Schwehr. The consumption of living space is above average in high-rise buildings. Due to Swiss building laws, high-rise buildings are not allowed to stand close together, but must keep their distance from other buildings. As a result, despite their height, they hardly allow any additional living space on a plot of land, says Schwehr. "High-rise buildings usually mean more building mass for privileged persons, but no densification." In high-rise buildings there is also greater anonymity, because the lift brings residents directly to their front door. "Staircases lose their social function," says Peter Schwehr.
Shared roof terrace
Research assumes that people living in high-rise buildings have a weaker relationship to the neighbourhood because of the "detachment" of their living situation. This creates an imbalance, says Peter Schwehr. Due to their oversize, towers dominate the cityscape. "But they often make only a small contribution to revitalising the neighbourhood."
Time and again, it is said that high-rise residents take the lift to the underground car park in order to leave from there by car. As a result, they do not appear in the public space at all. He does not have this impression, says Stefan Schmid. He himself commutes by public transport. He does most of his shopping in the neighbourhood. "I often see people from the Metropolitans on the street." Schmid says he appreciates the anonymity of his flat. "At this height, you don't need shutters either." Nevertheless, he maintains contact with his neighbours. Two places that are open to all residents contribute to a good community life: the entrance hall and the skylounge, as the roof terrace on the 20th floor is called. So everyone can enjoy the best view - you can see a few more mountains than from Schmid's flat.
Lift as a meeting place
Real estate developer Henrik Jason Stump says that people actually meet more often in the lifts of high-rise buildings than in stairwells of ordinary houses. "The anonymity of high-rise buildings is a prejudice." The new urban model for Zurich should further ensure that high-rise buildings fit better into the city. There should also be affordable flats in the towers. A lot of research and experimentation is going on in this area, says Schwehr. The Zurich cooperative ABZ is taking on a pioneering role. It is planning an 85-metre high-rise on the Koch site, in which 30 per cent of the flats will be subsidised. Thanks to its extensive experience, ABZ has been able to keep construction costs low, says spokesperson Ariel Leuenberger. In the cooperative high-rise, three floors will form a unit. Staircases and common rooms will connect the flats.
This is how the ABZ wants to facilitate encounters. Peter Schwehr thinks this is a promising approach. "But it will remain challenging to build affordable high-rises that fit well into the city." Stefan Schmid has "not regretted his move to the skies of Leutschenbach for a second", as he says. "The view is always great". As if in confirmation, the evening sun colours the snowy Alpine peaks on the horizon orange.
