Gutstrasse Cooperative Housing
Zurich, Switzerland 2020–present
Client: Baugenossenschaft im Gut Competition, first prize
This collaboration with Lütjens Padmanabhan ArchitektInnen involves the renewal of housing stock in Zurich Wiedikon belonging to the Im Gut housing cooperative. The project replaces buildings on two plots with around one hundred apartments, a kindergarten, community and commercial spaces, and new offices for the cooperative.
The new apartment buildings are designed as a pair, facing towards each other across Gutstrasse. Like the artist duo Gilbert & George, the buildings are dressed almost identically, their external appearance formed from variations of the same elements.
On the south side of the street, a ten-storey building is preceded by a slim pavilion housing the cooperative’s offices. To its rear, a south-facing communal garden is surrounded by a shady roof, giving it the character of a ‘Hortus Conclusus’.
A slightly lower building fronts onto the north side of Gutstrasse, and is connected at the rear to a single storey pavilion that contains the kindergarten. The new ensemble creates a positive relationship with the surrounding listed buildings, which include a high-rise and shop designed by Karl Egender.
Sustainability and longevity inform the construction method and material. The buildings are timber structured, with in-situ concrete stair cores. The façades of the residential buildings are clad with scalloped panels of coloured fibre cement, with ground-floor façades and the offices and kindergarten made in painted wood.
![Model 1](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/iJEQAZlRI479_232x116.jpg)
![Model 2](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/MPO1dsAt6eGR_232x116.jpg)
![Model 3](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/NWl4xP1G_t73_232x116.jpg)
![Model 4](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/GWRLiv32j1n1_232x116.jpg)
![Model 5](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/-CE-jwOglZF7_232x116.jpg)
Competition entry
![Competition 1](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/zaahXeozNCGM_232x116.jpg)
![Competition 2](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/fwtVpYtgja8l_232x116.jpg)
![Competition 3](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/AwCMOjYVaRJM_232x116.jpg)
![Competition 4](https://carusostjohn.com/media/images/projects/gutstrasse-cooperative-housing/C6QBmySwMpVt_232x116.jpg)
Credits
Location
Zurich, Switzerland
Date
2020–2025
Client
Baugenossenschaft im Gut
Area
8,356 m²
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John, Michael Schneider
Project architect
Philipp Boenigk
Project team
Francesco Caputi, Anna Clocchiatti, Luís De Macedo, Jan Pisani
Landscape architect
Ghiggi Paesaggi Landschaft & Städtebau, Zürich
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