Franklinturm / Zurich, Switzerland / Multiparker 740

The Franklinturm by Armon Semadeni Architects on the SBB development site at Oerlikon railway station adds another high point to the skyline of the district in the north of Zurich.

The Frankliturm by Armon Semadeni Architects on the SBB site at Oerlikon railway station adds another high point to the district's skyline in the north of Zurich.

Oerlikon, once a farming village behind the mountains, developed from an industrial district characterised by the railway into a booming district in the north of Zurich, which is now known for modern services and technologies.

The Frankturm forms the southern end of the station square and marks the entrance to the station. With a height of around 80 metres, the building on Hofwiesenstrasse complements the skyline of the district and picks up on the different construction phases of the surrounding area with its rotation and three-part staggered heights. The five-storey base of the building follows the alignment of the railway tracks and the street. While it cantilevers over the platform on the track side from the first floor upwards, it forms the vis-à-vis to the Pestalozzi Library on the other side and its height creates a visual connection to the historic perimeter block development. Above the plinth area, the entire structure is turned in the direction of the railway tracks, but is nevertheless divided into two further sections. The central, eleven-storey section of the building echoes the height of the Neumarkt, a building complex consisting of a shopping centre and two lower high-rise buildings. The roof terrace above the tenth storey introduces the final section of the building. From here, the west façade is set back by half up to the 21st floor, while the east façade runs as a continuous front. The Franklinturm thus enters into a dialogue with the Swissôtel from the 1970s and becomes a counterpart to the Andreas Turm, which was completed in 2018.

The structure of the curtain wall façade is also harmonised with the surroundings and supports the volumetric effect of the building. While the scale of the platform roofs was taken up on the ground floor, the structure of the upper floors is uniform and visually binds the staggered volume together. The moulded elements of the project-specific closed cavity façade were installed without scaffolding, with the moulded elements attached to metal nodes. This meant that the façade could be completed just six months after the shell was built, without disrupting train services.

The structural requirements of the high-rise building in particular presented the planners with design challenges. In order to realise a high-rise building on the extremely narrow perimeter between the railway tracks and the road, damage caused by the static forces of the tall building had to be prevented. Added to this was the unstable soil structure and the smooth tunnel of the Zurich waste disposal and recycling company that runs 30 metres underground. A stable foundation was created using a combination of shallow and pile foundations with a deep foundation over three basement levels. The striking cantilever and rotation of the tower also had a considerable influence on the statics. Vertical and horizontal prestressing was used to prevent the building from tilting and to counteract the enormous wind forces. This technique is known from bridge construction and is rarely used in buildings; specifically, pipes with anchor strands were laid in the walls, which carry steel cables tensioned with high loads. Several hundred of these cables were needed to ensure the structural balance of the tower block. The building also had to be protected against vibrations caused by earthquakes and railway operations.

The Franklinturm also fulfils important public space functions. In addition to the ramp to the public bicycle garage, deliveries to and from the station's ShopVille also take place on the ground floor of the tower. The adjacent ‘WÖHR Multiparker 740’ parking system efficiently integrates 38 car parking spaces for the tenants in the building. Once the vehicles have been parked in the transfer cabin, they are automatically removed within approx. 139 to 222 seconds and parked in the four-storey high-bay warehouse in the basement. Depending on the vehicle height, 21 parking spaces up to max. 2.00 m and 17 parking spaces up to 1.70 m are available for vehicle weights up to max. 3.00 tonnes. The 360° swivelling device in the transfer cabin enables convenient parking and unparking in the direction of travel.

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS:

• WÖHR Multiparker 740
• 38 parking spaces
• 360° turning device for convenient parking and retrieval
• Operation via RFID chip
• Vehicle length max. 5.25 m
• Vehicle weight max. 3 tonnes

Project plans