ETH Zurich launches pioneering construction research project
The HIL building on the H?nggerberg campus is set to become a living lab. Now in need of renovation, the building will be remodelled and extended, with completion pencilled in for 2035.?Professorships at ETH Zurich will engage with the project directly to research techniques and designs. Their aim is to advance sustainable redevelopment and retrofitting methods.
In brief
- The HIL building has exerted its influence on the ETH H?nggerberg campus since its construction (1972–1976).
- Extensive renovation is required in the years ahead – with preparations drawn up not by external design agencies but by ETH professorships.
- A living lab will be established to support this, enabling students and researchers to test new approaches to circular and resource-efficient construction on site.
With its sprawling dimensions and brown metal fa?ade, the HIL building is one of the most striking structures on ETH Zurich’s H?nggerberg campus. It was built between 1972 and 1976 to plans drawn up by architects Max Ziegler and Erik Lanter and the civil engineering firm Wolf, Kropf & Partner. The HIL building serves as the main base for the university’s Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) and Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG) and is also home to its Architecture and Civil Engineering Library. It offers around 800 workstations and spacious drafting rooms, while its lecture halls and seminar rooms have a combined capacity of 1,600.
The building has been in continuous operation without significant renovation since its construction and is now nearing the end of its first life cycle. Its fire safety installations and other building services are in particular need of overhaul. The building envelope also lacks sufficient insulation, which results in high heat demand. In addition, the building has too little space to cover the current and future requirements of the two departments based there.
Such projects would typically see the building stripped back to its supporting structure and completely renovated. However, as part of a more considered approach to building management, ETH Zurich targets astute renovations and extensions for its properties. A project initiative launched by Professor Matthias Kohler from D-ARCH and Hannes Pichler, the Head of Real Estate Management at ETH Zurich, aims to leverage the wide-ranging construction expertise in the building’s two departments. While the Real Estate Management department would usually commission an external design office to draw up renovation plans, this project will be progressed internally, with certain parts of the building transformed into a living lab in the years ahead. The Executive Board of ETH Zurich has examined and approved this innovative approach.
ETH Zurich is weaving teaching, research and knowledge transfer together, integrating these elements directly into the construction project. Professorships in D-ARCH and D-BAUG – and in other departments – will conduct research, initiate teaching projects and build prototypes on specific aspects of the endeavour. These input projects will take place in dialogue with the internal planning team, and professors, other teaching staff and students will be invited to participate. Their findings will be incorporated into the final plans and project implementation. The targeted outcome is a high-quality construction project that integrates the latest findings from interdisciplinary teaching and research at ETH Zurich, combining the expertise of D-ARCH and D-BAUG.
Showcase project for sustainable construction
Designed as a flagship project for resource-efficient construction, the Living Lab HIL will take ETH Zurich an important step closer to net zero. It will address topics ranging from operating energy and grey energy to climate-friendly design and circular construction. This transformation of the HIL building is intended to serve as a showcase project, providing a template for future modifications to existing buildings. By embarking on this ambitious project, the university is seeking to blaze a trail in sustainable construction and set a positive example in keeping with the motto: “We practise what we research and teach.”
ETH Real Estate Management is one of Switzerland’s largest public property developers and expects the project to yield key insights for other construction projects. The department is also responsible for ensuring that associated research projects deliver the information needed to carry out renovations to the HIL building.
One of the main research focuses will be sustainable construction in existing buildings. The project will seek to identify best practices for modifications, repairs and adaptations to existing structures. Rather than gutting the HIL building and redeveloping it entirely, the project will reuse the supporting structure along with many existing components. ETH Zurich hopes to provide valuable input to the discussion surrounding the legacy of post-war buildings that are not listed but still merit preservation. The Living Lab HIL is intended to demonstrate the need for a different approach to existing buildings along with the options available to achieve this.
At the same time, the plans for the HIL building include a substantial extension to create more space for the growing university. The building will be expanded upwards and outwards, in line with a 2021 feasibility study. The additional space will facilitate temporary relocation during the construction work. ETH aims to carry out the renovations while keeping the building in operation if possible – though whether and to what extent this is feasible will be examined as the project progresses. Digital methods will play an important role in the planning phase by helping to make the complexity of the project tangible. In the initial phase, for example, a spatially interactive planning platform for the HIL building will be established.
Working together with D-ARCH and D-BAUG, the Real Estate Management department aims to use the research project to investigate potential means of adapting the building to new forms of work while also supporting hybrid teaching and learning landscapes. Such considerations extend from public spaces and drafting classrooms to workshops, offices and laboratories. This investigation will analyse the potential of a rapidly changing work culture in order to design a modern space suitable for the university of tomorrow. Its objectives include improving interaction and collaboration.
Design as an element of research
In terms of its scale, the Living Lab HIL represents a novelty at ETH Zurich. The university intends to utilise the project to set new standards in the integration of research and construction practice. The usual planning process will be adapted for this teaching and research-based construction project. Design planning will be carried out internally as an element of the research work, enabling the findings to be incorporated directly into the planning process.
The ETH Executive Board resolved to launch the project last year. The preparatory phase will take place in 2025 and involves initiating the Living Lab HIL and defining the teaching and research topics. From 2026 to 2029, teaching and research projects will be conducted in parallel with planning work and demonstrated either virtually or in physical form in the HIL building. Selected topics will be prepared for scale-up with industry partners. Work on the extension is expected to start in 2030, with the existing building renovated and converted in stages by around 2035. Once the construction work has been completed, the ONA site in Zurich Oerlikon will be closed and D-ARCH will move all its activities into the HIL building.
ETH Zurich will provide details of individual phases as the project progresses. Its Real Estate Management department will detail the overall construction project on its website, while a project website featuring a detailed schedule and showcasing the input projects from research and teaching will be available from 2026. The aim is to tailor the project as precisely as possible to the needs of the more than 3,000 people who research, teach, learn and work in the building.