Swiss Life Arena
Zurich, Switzerland 2012–2022
Client: ZSC Lions Competition, first prize
The commission for the Swiss Life Arena was won in a competition organised by the City of Zurich in partnership with the ZSC Lions ice hockey club. The building contains a 12,000-seat arena that will be the home for the team, as well as a practice rink, a business centre, a large club restaurant and car parking. The site in Altstetten is located at the edge of the city, in a place where the urban structure has run out. The new arena marks the approach to the city with a public building that makes a festive place for ice hockey.
Drawings
Façade
References
Related news
The Swiss Life Arena is featured in Casabella 944. Federico Tranfa introduces the project and discusses its key references – the ruins of an ancient mosque in Syria and the 18th century Guards Tent in the gardens of the summer palace at Drottingholm in Stockholm.
The Swiss Life Arena is reviewed in the March edition of Werk, Bauen Wohnen. Benjamin Muschg takes in the atmosphere at a sold-out game, as the ZSC Lions triumph over HC Davos, and describes the building's unconventional organisation and approach to minimizing energy consumption in use.
Profile
Der Standard
A visit to the pioneers of adaptation in Zurich
Vienna, Austria
17th December 2022
Maik Novotny visits Caruso St John's Zurich office to discuss the new arena for the ZSC Lions ice-hockey team and, despite the scale of its most recently completed project, discovers the practice's long-term interest and growing commitment to projects that prioritise renovation and adaptive re-use over new construction.
Caruso St John's newly opened Swiss Life Arena is reviewed in Hochparterre. Deborah Fehlmann explores the project's materiality and composition, touching on its fabric inspired façade and efficient internal organisation.
The Zurich Lions Ice Hockey team will play their inaugural match tonight at the newly opened Swiss Life Arena. Located in Altstetten, at the north-western edge of the city, the 12,000 seat, 70,000m² arena is Caruso St John's largest building to date.
The Swiss Life Arena features in Swiss Performance 2023, Archithese's round-up of the best Swiss architectural projects from the past 12 months.
A publication charting the 14 year process of designing and building the Swiss Life Arena has been published by Park Books.
The book is by CCTM Real Estate & Infrastructure AG, with contributions by Ariana Pradal, Marco Keller, and Claudia Kaufmann-Morf, as well as photographs by and Philip Heckhausen.
Lecture
Casabella Lectures
Adam Caruso in conversation with Federico Tranfa
Milan, Italy
8th May 2023
Adam Caruso will be in conversation with Casabella’s editor Federico Tranfa at the Theatro Milano for the magazine’s annual lecture series. The discussion will focus on the design process, exploring projects like the recently completed Swiss Life Arena.
Michael Schneider spoke to Jonathan Jaeggi of Hochparterre's Sach & Krach podcast, about the recently completed Swiss Life Arena. The two discuss the building's strong façade, its complex planning and construction alongside the importance of injecting humour into architecture.
The Swiss Life Arena is in its final stages of work. The new home for the ZSC Lions ice hockey team will open to the public in Autumn 2022.
David K. Ross' Mock Up exhibition, featuring Caruso St John's Swiss Life Arena, has moved to the Yellow House in Flims. The exhibition shown previously at S AM presents his Archetypes photographic series, which examines the role of mock ups in the design process.
Caruso St John's Zurich office visited the Swiss Life Arena at the end of 2021. Construction continues on the new home for the ZSC Lions ice hockey team and is set to be completed in Spring.
Exhibition
Archetypes at the Schweizerisches Architkturmuseum
Basel, Switzerland
28th August - 31st October
David K. Ross' photographic series, Archetypes will be exhibited at the Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel from the 28th August to the 31st October. Façade mock-ups for Caruso St John's Swiss Life Arena feature as part of exhibition.
Enormous steel roof trusses are being craned into position at the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich. The roof structure will be in place within the month and the building will top-out before the end of Summer. Construction is set to complete in Spring and the building will open to the public in Summer 2022.
Façade mock-ups for Caruso St John's Swiss Life Arena have been photographed as part of Canadian artist David K. Ross' new publication Archetypes.
Hosted by BALTS Projects, Caruso St John's Tibor Bielicky will be in conversation with Ross about the project, on Wednesday 23rd June 2021, 18:30 (MSEZ).
Construction continues on the new home for the ZSC Lions ice hockey team. The main arena is taking shape, with all its in-situ concrete poured and the pre-cast elements being put into place.
Construction continues on the Swiss Life Arena, the new home for the ZSC Lions ice hockey team, and Caruso St John's largest project to date. The in situ concrete exposed shell of the building is currently being built and the project is set to complete in 2022.
Construction continues at the new Swiss Life Arena in Zurich.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site of the new Swiss Life Arena for the ZSC Lions ice hockey team, celebrating the start of construction.
Zurich city council has granted preliminary legal and financial approval to the project for a new ice hockey arena for the ZSC Lions.
Credits
Location
Altstetten, Zurich, Switzerland
Date
2012–2022
Client
ZSC Lions Arena Immobilien AG
Construction cost
169m CHF
Area
71,300 m²
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John, Michael Schneider, Florian Zierer
Project architect
Adriana Müller
Project team
Natalija Bajovic, Christof Bedall, Leo Bettini, Tibor Bielicky, Pauline Delorme, Paul Eckert, Rafael Fernandes Trindade, Pierre Chèvremont, Svenja Gubler, Philipp Knorr, Leslie Rahel Majer, Annina Meier, Argel Padilla, Alina Pinardi, Jan Pisani, Kim Pløhn, Moritz Pürckhauer, Ignasi Sarria, Joel Schärer, Jonas Schöpfer, David Vincent, Hannah v. Knobelsdorff, Nora Walter, Carmino Weber, Marie Wichard, Anastasia Zharova
Structural engineer
Ferrari Gartmann AG
Services engineers
Kalt & Halbeisen Ingenieurbüro AG, Amstein & Waltert
Cost consultant
PBK AG
Project manager
CSTJ-PBK
Client project manager
CCTM consulting AG
Electrical engineer
Enerpeak AG
Façade engineer
Neuschwander & Morf AG
Building physics
BAKUS Bauphysik & Akustik GmbH
Landscape architect
Antòn Landschaft GmbH
Main contractor
HRS Real Estate AG
Concrete contractors
Marti AG, Barizzi AG
Related projects
Hardturm Areal
Zurich, Switzerland
2016–present
Ozeanium, Basel Zoo
Basel, Switzerland
2012
Europaallee Mixed-use Building
Zurich, Switzerland
2007–2013
Nottingham Contemporary
Nottingham, United Kingdom
2004–2009
Peterloo Memorial
In collaboration with Jeremy Deller
Manchester, United Kingdom
2018–2019
United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial
In collaboration with Marcus Taylor and Rachel Whiteread
London, United Kingdom
2016–2017
Schulhaus, Neuhausen
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland
2015–2020
Canterbury Cathedral Organ Loft
Canterbury, United Kingdom
2016–2020
Stockholm City Library
Stockholm, Sweden
2014–2019
Heong Gallery, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2013–2016
Lycée Hôtelier de Lille
Lille, France
2011–2016
St Gallen Cathedral Chancel
St Gallen, Switzerland
2011–2013
Nagelhaus
In collaboration with Thomas Demand
Zurich, Switzerland
2007–2010
Dining Hall, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2005–2009
Chiswick House Café
London, United Kingdom
2006–2010
V&A Museum of Childhood
London, United Kingdom
2002–2007
Spike Island
Bristol, United Kingdom
2003–2006
Hallfield School
London, United Kingdom
2001–2005
Barbican Concert Hall
London, United Kingdom
2000–2001
