Peace, space and relaxation in Zurich Schwamendingen

Portal Aubrugg (agps architecture)

11.11.05 - The Schwamendingen motorway generating noise pollution from more than 110,000 vehicles per day will be enclosed in a tunnel, thus freeing the residential area completely from all noise nuisance.

The Cantonal Council (Regierungsrat) of Zurich transferred the credit application for the enclosure of the Schwamendingen motorway to the Cantonal Administration, thus succeeding in submitting a project with a reasonable financing solution between the Federal government and the administrations of the Canton and City of Zurich.

The motorway, opened in 1970, cuts through a residential area, generating noise pollution from more than 110,000 vehicles per day. The motorway is to be enclosed in a tunnel, thus freeing the district completely from all noise nuisance. On top of the enclosure is a green space with pedestrian and cycle access along its length and across it.

The project has arisen during a development process of several years, in which we have been constantly involved: a renovation project with noise protection walls in 1998, a preliminary project consisting of a steel and glass enclosure in 2000 following a people?s initiative, an urban development study competition involving three teams of architects in 2003, and based on this, the credit application in 2005.

In October 2005 the Federal government assured the City of Zurich that it would contribute towards the costs, and so implementation became a real possibility. EBP has worked on the project for all the years of its existence, contributing our interdisciplinary expertise to the areas of traffic planning, town planning, noise protection, structural engineering and infrastructure construction, and to our cooperation with architects. And not least, in 2005 we contributed to the success now achieved in the area of finance with valid arguments and reference projects.