Neubau Chollerstrasse Zug
Competition, 1st prize
The Lorzenallmend area between Zug and Cham will be turned into a compact urban centre that will lend a distinctive identity to the adjacent park. The new Chollerstrasse, where the WWZ group is creating an office building with customer area and computer centre, runs through this urban park. The clear 3-storey structure in the southern part of the plot blends in with the surrounding commercial buildings. The front façade of this well-proportioned building in a prime location faces Chollerstrasse. In the west, its longitudinal façade straddles the existing courtyard of the WWZ. In a second stage, the building volume will be extended to Chollerstrasse and completed with a 7-storey high-rise. The transformation of the volume both meets the need for floor space at the WWZ and also reflects the gradual densification of the district as is provided for in the district's design plan, "Äussere Lorzenallmend". The independent structure of the two stages confidently integrates into the anticipated environment. The place is characterised by its industrial past: pragmatism, functionality and emptiness will continue to define the area in the future. The structure forms an efficient and flexible basic grid in the form of a robust skeleton construction. Three courtyards comprising thee grid fields each illuminate the office floors. Together with the utility cores they structure the support plates and thus form a variety of interior spaces on top of a very simple and uniform basic structure. Glass blocks and concrete frames filled in with steel profiles further emphasise the industrial character. This makes the structure's modularity the defining external feature.
