Storage buildings and finishing tower Sihlhölzli
Hermann Herter conceived the sports complex situated between two former river arms in a strict symmetry in 1932. The Neo-Classical gymnasium building and the neighbouring music pavilion by Robert Maillart to the north are listed buildings. In terms of Herter’s original conception, the positioning of the new auxiliary buildings pursues a reinforcement of the park-like frame of the exterior space, which is spanned out around the central gymnasium hall. For this reason the equipment storage buildings are arranged symmetrically around the axis of the complex. Simultaneously the lateral positioning of the two-storey finishing tower with timer at the other end of the complex almost imperceptibly shifts the overall frontal and central symmetrical character of the
complex.
The new auxiliary buildings respect the given basic order, but in fine-spatial terms encounter it with independence. The structuring and materialisation of the buildings are, according to their different functions and importance, finely balanced to their respective encompassing spaces. In relation to the urban context, linkages are implemented by means of inversions and translucent walls of glass bricks; wall slabs of rammed earth mediate to the landscape space, becoming three-dimensional paintings through their haptic layering. Their imperfection and craftsmanship become even more pronounced in contrast with the sharp-edged concrete slabs.
