Light, brightness and a concept for materials and colours appropriate to the existing building determine the character of the redesigned branch of the Zürcher Kantonalbank in Zurich Oerlikon. The most striking intervention is the new staircase for clients.

Zürcher Kantonalbank ZKB, Zürich Oerlikon, Fischer Architekten AG Zürich

The branch of the Zürcher Kantonalbank, designed in 1961 by architects Karl and Carl Albert Rathgeb, is located in Zurich Oerlikon, close to the indoor sports stadium. The building is an example of a timeless modern design that uses a reduced formal language.

The intervention was made up of three phases: the renovation of the facade, the building services, and the redesign of the interior. In replanning the ground floor and upper floors the aim was to integrate the client’s corporate design.

The new clients’ staircase is a central architectural element. A welded steel structure that hangs in the space carries the detached treads, landings, and side walls of glass. The vertical spatial volume of the old staircase hall was gutted and reinterpreted in a way that enables clients to experience it.

The front-hung limestone of the renovated facade is ventilated from behind. The ribbon windows are practically flush with the parapet bands below them, producing a flat quality that gives the building an impressive appearance.