In Glattbrugg’s town centre, a combined residential and commercial development including a new square at the railway station was built. Commercial businesses are located on the ground floor, offices in the first and second storeys. The rest of the development is reserved for the 44 rental flats. A wide passageway leading to Schaffhauserstrasse connects the Glattbrugg railway station with the surrounding neighbourhood, and different terrain levels enable access to the nearby Opfikon station.

Large, three-dimensional numbers mounted above the door canopies mark the three entrances to the flats. Partly open, partly closed, the quirky aluminium numbers offer different views into their shimmering violet inner life. In the building’s interior, the numbers for the storeys echoes this principle, while the other signage elements remain two-dimensional and blend discreetly with the colour scheme.

• Address:

  Bahnhofplatz 8, Schaffhauserstrasse 49/51, 8152 Glattbrugg

• New build:

  2021

• Architecture:

  Armon Semaddeni Architekten, Zurich

• Commissioned by:

  Helvetia Versicherungen Immobilien Projekte Schweiz

• Project team:

  Sarah Bähler, Flavio Berther, Natalie Bringolf, Rahel Imboden, Kristin Irion, Rahel Kurmann, Yvonne Schneider

• Photography:

  Niklaus Spoerri, Zurich