Village of Hochfelden

The village of Hochfelden, located west of Bülach, has retained its rural character despite its good location (Zurich is only a 20-minute drive away). The historic center, which developed along Stadlerstrasse, is well preserved and characterized by old farmhouses. However, the central function has been weakened by the departure of services and public infrastructure, and the public space mainly consists of traffic areas, offering little room for social interaction and activities.

To make the center a place of encounter again, a building densification and an enhancement of the public space are being pursued. With a mixed-use program consisting of senior housing, care groups, and small public facilities (library, kindergarten, daycare), vacant plots in the central area are to be developed in several phases, and low-value building stock replaced.

A central theme in the urban design is improving the recognizability of the center. Gemeindehausstrasse will be redesigned into a village square (shared traffic zone) and become the connecting space for numerous pedestrian paths. A combined transverse building will provide a counterpart to the community center and form a boundary for the village square. Public uses will be concentrated on the ground floor of this building, strengthening synergies between the built environment and the village square. On the south side of the transverse building lies a quiet semi-public garden with a playground. This green space primarily relates to the adjacent uses (kindergarten, daycare). The building housing the care groups has its own enclosed green space (dementia garden) and is located in a quiet area of the center. It forms the transition to the single-family house neighborhoods. The senior apartments are distributed across the four new buildings.

All new buildings have a simple basic form, responding to the historic architecture. The materials and façade design are vertically structured, but the uses within the individual buildings are mixed. Building heights are kept limited.