heerenschürli sports facility, zurich
all images courtesy topotek1

the heerenschürli sports facility is one of the largest in zurich,  located between
a nature reserve, a highway crossing, residential housing and large scale industrial buildings.
german firm topotek1 have been commissioned to restructure the facility to cater to
the changing and expanding demands of sports and leisure activities. a compact, extremely
popular sporting world with twelve football fields and one for baseball are integrated with
three buildings: an ice-rink, a locker-room building and a workshop. the playing fields are
all surrounded by high fences, giving the sports arena its architectural status and urban
poignancy. the fences form diverse spatial sequences mediated along a simple path layout.
the determinant connecting function of the orthogonal path axes is interwoven and connected
with the spatial and functional core of the complex over a series of rows of trees, avenues
and accent-setting groves. the overlapping transparency of the fences creates a visual dynamism
which is further amplified by the materials used in their construction: the two-ply, wire-mesh
walls in various green tones produce a moiré effect which makes the overlapping of the various
spatial layers a part of the mise-en-scene of the relationship between athletes and spectators.

























the beams being sprayed


beams ready for assembly