Buildings may still be more than 80 meters high in the future, but require a design plan. There is no upper limit.
Zurich’s skyscrapers are no match for the snowy mountains in the background. But they shape the skyline of the city.
Zurich’s appearance has changed significantly over the past few decades. Skyscrapers such as the Prime Tower or the Swissmill Tower characterize the cityscape just as much as historical buildings à la Grossmünster. If the city government has its way, high-rise buildings will also have a permanent place in Zurich in the future.
On Wednesday, City Councilor André Odermatt (SP) and Katrin Gügler, Director of the Office for Urban Development, presented the new high-rise guidelines. The previous guidelines date back to 2001. There has been talk for a long time that they need to be revised. At the end of January, a planning report was published, in which buildings up to 250 meters high were planned. “These are only scenarios,” said building manager Odermatt on Wednesday to media representatives. But at the time they were the talk of the town.
The new high-rise guidelines as well as the building and zoning regulations will be publicly available from December 15th. According to the guidelines, buildings that are higher than 80 meters can also be built in the future. There is no upper limit – not even at 250 meters. However, if the 80-meter mark is exceeded, a design plan is required, as has been the case up to now. City councilor André Odermatt said on Wednesday: “The new guidelines are neither a construction plan nor a free pass for high-rise buildings.”
With the update of the high-rise building guidelines, the high quality of high-rise buildings in the city of Zurich is “secured even more bindingly”. According to Katrin Gügler from the Office for Urban Development, the new guidelines bring numerous improvements. For example, areas suitable for high-rise buildings would be more precisely defined. The focus is on districts that are already medium to very densely populated. Specifically, the high-rise zone in the north of the city, in Affoltern and Schwamendingen, is to be expanded.
Furthermore, the new guidelines give the general public more say in the planning process, and quality can be demanded more bindingly. “The taller a skyscraper, the higher the requirements,” says Katrin Gügler.
The new guidelines also define three area types, each for high-rise buildings up to 40, 60 and 80 meters. While the areas for buildings up to a maximum of 40 or a maximum of 80 meters are being reduced, there is now a zone for buildings up to a maximum of 60 meters, which should ensure a smoother transition. Overall, the area on which skyscrapers can be built in Zurich will not be increased.
The high-rise guidelines are publicly available until February 26. They still have to be approved by the city council, then by the municipal council. The same applies to the implementation in the building regulations and in the structure plan.
Initiators want green banks instead of concrete
The new high-rise guidelines are not universally accepted. For example, the non-partisan committee of the bank protection initiative, which was launched in August, is not very enthusiastic. The initiators want to ban high-rise buildings on the banks of the lake and Limmat in Zurich.
The fact that “skyscrapers of unlimited height” can be built a few meters from the banks of the Limmat disturbs the initiators, as they write in a communiqué. “We people in the city of Zurich want green banks instead of concrete.” They also criticize the fact that the costs for the construction and operation of the high-rise buildings are massively higher, which ultimately results in significantly higher rents.
More skyscrapers are to be built in Zurich in the coming years. In the coming year, for example, the 80 meter high Franklin Tower in Zurich Oerlikon is to be opened.
An entire high-rise district is to be built in the Thurgauerstrasse area, also in Zurich-North. Five high-rise buildings with a total of 900 non-profit apartments are planned. The design plan was approved by voters at the end of 2020.
UBS is also planning the fourth tallest building in Zurich in Zurich-Altstetten. The big bank is building a 108-meter high-rise just north of the train station.
Another high-rise project is planned on the Hardturm site. The two towers will each be 137 meters high. That would make them tower over the Prime Tower, the tallest building in Zurich at 126 meters. However, the project has been delayed by several years due to complaints.
It should also soon be possible to live in a high-rise on the Koch site. An 85 meter high building with cooperative apartments is planned on the border between Altstetten and Albisrieden. Behind this is the General Building Cooperative Zurich (ABZ). The tower will have a total of 27 floors. Parts of the Koch area have been occupied since 2013. It should be cleared by the end of the year. The currently occupied K0ch area is to be cleared in February 2023. The start of construction is also scheduled for 2023.