Overall Refurbishment UBS Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland Description

The aim of the general refurbishment of the historic headquarters building is to create a contemporary setting, to express the function of a head office, and to clearly distinguish the different functions in the building from each other and to present them appropriately. The starting point for the project is the existing architecture, in particular the striking façade and the impressive historic rooms. The central location on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich offers a possibility for daily interaction between the bank, the customers and a broader public. The publicly accessible ground floor is an interface space which plays a central role in integrating the building in the urban mesh. The historic banking hall in the Münzhof forms the heart. Beside it a second courtyard is inserted in the plan. This luxuriantly planted Pelikanhof is laid out as a garden and visually opens up the depth of the building. The new UBS Forum, located between the Münzhof banking hall and its green counterpart, is a space that can be used in a variety of ways, where the bank can present itself to the public through a variety of events. The main staircase is a representative spatial ‘hinge’ connecting all floors of the headquarters building with each other. The bright stairs with the centrally positioned glazed lifts signifies transparency and openness. Through a materiality based on stone and glass the heterogeneous spaces of the headquarters are brought together.
Commission study commission (together with Hürlemann AG, Zürich)
Dates study commission 2013 (1st prize), planning 2013–2018, construction 2015–2018
Size 40,600 m2
Costs –
Client UBS AG