Sihlcity Shopping Centre Living Facade
Zürich, Switzerland
6,313 sf Greenwall

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: May 21, 2018

We’ve featured many types of greenwalls over the years as our Project of the Week, mostly growing media- and hydroponic based systems, but not many green facades yet.  See these: One Premier Place in Irvine, CA; Plaza Delicias (Delicias Square) Vertical Garden in Zaragoza, Spain; the 345 Meatpacking Green Facades in New York, NY; and One Central Park in Sydney, Australia, which has both living walls and green façades.

Why?  Because people (designers, manufacturers, owners, etc.) aren’t submitting them to The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database!

Facade greening features a training structure that supports vines, both trailers and climbers, growing upward from the ground away from the building.  And there are two main types: a multidimensional welded wire trellising system, and a variety of stainless steel cable and mesh systems.

So, we’re very happy to be showcasing the Sihlcity Shopping Centre Living Facade, a beautiful, lush green facade that is thriving in Zürich.  Read below to learn a bit about its construction, and click on any of the photos to take you to the Project Profile where you can read all about this challenging greenwall.

By the way, the massive Sihlcity is covered in extensive greenroofs, and we’d love to feature them as an upcoming Project of the Week…

Does anyone know about who designed or installed them, or what systems were used?  Please let me know!

Mini Description & Details

Sihlcity is a shopping mall in Zurich built on the grounds of a former paper mill near the Sihl River.  Stretching over 100,000 square meters, Sihlcity is one of Switzerland’s largest shopping and leisure complexes, and it’s covered in extensive greenroofs.

Designed by architect Theo Hotz, it attracts 20,000 visitors a day offering a broad range of shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, cultural events, a hotel, offices, and living spaces.

zhdamalsheute.ch shows the former Papierfabrik Sihl, now Sihlcity, in 1951 photo from ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Picture Archive, and in 2016, photo by zhdamalsheute.ch.

Jakob Rope Systems participated in several facets of this landmark project.  The eastern facade of the 8-story high parking garage was equipped with a green wall planned by Jakob AG, and the southern facade of the same building was covered with a stainless steel net across a large surface.

With a height of 23 meters and a width of 25.5 meters, the sheer size and resulting loads made it impossible to apply standard solutions.  Jakob designed the training systems in cooperation with Raderschall landscape architects and provided installation on site.

The relatively wide-meshed training structure is formed by vertical and horizontal ropes of various thicknesses suspended at a distance of 70 cm in front of the facade.  This allows plenty of growing space for the mainly Chinese wisteria and birthworts.

The distribution of the rugged, custom steel spacers, mounted to the slabs of the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth floors, follows a clear-cut grid pattern.  The same applies to the vertical ropes which matches the graphically strong aspect of the design.

More

The striking living wall delivers an elegant aesthetic solution to the car park facade, as well as a number of advantages including providing a sunscreen in the summer to help keep the car park cool; an additional layer of insulation during the winter; a level of sound insulation for the busy car park; and an effective deterrent to graffiti.

Sihlcity is a great example of reutilization and preservation of the site’s industrial heritage with both repurposed and new buildings, along with a beautiful living facade.

Year: 2007
Owner: Karl Steiner AG
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Building Type: Multi-Use
Type: Green Façade
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 6313 sq.ft.
Slope: 100%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Architect: Theo Hotz
Greenwall Training System Design: Jakob AG and Raderschall
Greenwall System: Webnet, Jakob Rope Systems
Greenwall Installation: Jakob Rope Systems

All the Info:

View the Sihlcity Shopping Centre Living Facade project profile to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Sihlcity Shopping Centre Living Facade Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week 5/21/18 video photo credits: Courtesy of Jakob Rope Systems; Sihlcity; and 1951 photo from ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Picture Archive and 2016 photo by zhdamalsheute.ch.

Did we miss your contribution? Please let us know to add you to the Sihlcity Shopping Centre Living Facade profile.

Would you like one of your projects to be featured on Greenroofs.com? We have to have a profile first! Submit Your Project Profile.

Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!

By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host