The Circle, Zurich

General planning: Planning of the largest building construction project in Switzerland
The project of the century "The Circle @ Zurich Airport" fascinates everyone with its size, its unique mix of uses and its unique urban planning and architectural concept. Together with Sulzer+Buzzi Baumanagement AG we founded the planning company under construction ag. It is responsible for the planning work as general planner. The architecture was further developed by our team with the Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto in Zurich. The unique alleys and squares between the clearly formulated structures are protected from the weather by a glass roof.

Building services 
The total energy demand of all buildings of the 'Circle' was determined by means of thermal-energetic building and system simulations. Since the area is intended for a wide variety of uses and conversions are possible, a comprehensive risk analysis of the expected energy demand was carried out.

Geotechnics: Foundation and excavation pit The Circle

From 2020 The Circle will be the new place-to-be at Zurich Airport. It is an architecturally striking building complex where new hotels and office space will meet gastronomy, art and culture.

The service center is being built at the foot of the Butzenbüel hill on an area of around 37,000 square meters on behalf of the developer Flughafen Zürich AG.

The overhanging facade along the Butzenbüelring makes high demands on the foundation system. In order to keep the building formations within the permissible range, a deep foundation was designed in the form of a large-scale shaft foundation tailored to the problem. Due to the sometimes poorly bearing subsoil layers and boundary conditions, it was necessary to close off the excavation pit and take safety measures to create the excavation pit.

The services provided by Gruner AG, Geotechnical Engineering Department include

• Study before preliminary project
• preliminary project
• Construction project for overall project lot 1
• Tendering and monitoring of subsoil investigations and preservation of evidence
• Submission
• Execution project and construction supervision for subproject lot 1R

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