Partial renovation and elevation of building apartment building Manessestrasse, Zurich 2010

• Building: Zurich Modernist apartment building, neighbourhood preservation zone
• Year of construction: 1930
• Client: Private
• Assignment: Partial renovation and elevation of building
• Services: Planning and realization
• Project handling: Christine Hotz Steinemann, Melanie Haltmeier

The Manessestrasse 2 apartment building is part of a perimeter block development from the 1930s.  The simple and clear architectural language, the concrete construction, the collective garage of the five houses and the direct connection of all floors with a passenger lift, the high proportion of windows, as well as the simple and functional materialisation, identify the building as an important witness of Zurich modernism.

The existing ten rental flats were gently renovated in their occupied condition (kitchens, wet rooms and in part the surfaces).

With the new wooden attic extension, two new three-room flats with a view over the city were created.

The energy demand for heating was reduced by a third by insulating the entire roof area (pitched and flat roof areas), by partially replacing the windows, and by upgrading all radiators with thermostatic valves.

Photography: Stefan Jäggi