Calatrava Builds Next to Calatrava

Building next to the station that is tucked between Stadelhoferplatz and the Zürich Opera House is coming full circle for Calatrava, since his 1983 competition win was his first. Completed in 1990, the station exhibits the sculptural forms and repetitive structures that Calatrava became known for, but in a much more subtle way than projects like the recently completed PATH Terminal in New York City.

Likewise, Calatrava's design for the proposed five-story office building named Haus Zum Falken is relatively sedate for the architect. Nevertheless, "In June 2014, Zurich’s City Council changed development regulations on Kreuzbühlstrasse 1, a thoroughfare in the city on which the new property will be built, to allow for the construction of an avant-garde building," according to a press release.

Responding to estimates that 80,000 people use the station every day, leaving a litter of bicycles around the station during the day, Calatrava designed a 1,000-bike parking garage in the basement of the office building, to be used for both neighborhood riders and station users.

Haus Zum Falken would replace an existing building that houses a cafe and shops near the south end of the station. According to Swiss insurer AXA, which owns the site, the existing building, though it might look historic, has had multiple conversions over time and is no longer in its original state. The project is expected to be complete in three years.