As a lucrative location and strong economic area in Switzerland and Europe, the city of Zurich meets the highest standards for an attractive living and working environment, thus offering ideal framework conditions for established companies as well as the best prerequisites for start-ups that wish to locate there.
Ambassador House in the district of Glattpark/Opfikon
The young district of Glattpark/Opfikon in Northern Zurich is an up-and-coming business centre. Centrally located between the city centre and the airport, this district is home to the Ambassador House, one of the largest office buildings in Switzerland in terms of floorspace.
The building was built at the end of the 1980s and has now been completely redesigned as part of a general renovation.
© Hess
Business centre with variable office concepts
The ultra-modern business centre has a total of 57,000 square metres of usable floorspace spread over seven fl oors – roughly the size of a football pitch, per storey. Around 38,000 square metres of leasable offi ce space can be flexibly subdivided.
On the ground fl oor and parts of the first fl oor, a restaurant as well as conference, retail and fitness rooms provide additional comfort.
Building recognised with “LEED Platinum” sustainability certificate
Fulfi lling standards in terms of energy efficiency and economy earned the Office building the highest possible “LEED Platinum” seal of quality for sustainable construction. The certificate of the U.S. Green Building Council is a worldwide certification for environmentally friendly, resourceconserving and sustainable construction.
The high quality standard is also the basis of the new exterior lighting with straightlined LINEA 6000 design pole mounted luminaires from Hess, which are installed at the entrance and along the landscaped area around the Ambassador House.
Outdoor lighting: Beautiful design, that complements the architecture
A clear structure for the exterior lighting that would complement the cubic architecture – that was the design requirement, along with many other key considerations of the lighting concept developed by Planungsbüro Reflexion AG of Zurich for the outdoor area of the Ambassador House. “The elegant design of the LINEA luminaires discreetly blends with the striking structure of the building,” says lighting designer Jennifer Sippel from Reflexion.
For a uniform appearance of the building and lighting, the LINEAs were coated with lacquer in the colour “Mica Anthracite”. This allows the luminaires’ simple elegance to come into its own even more during the day, while they literally merge with the architecture of the building in the evening and night hours.
“The elegant design of the LINEA luminaires discreetly blends with the striking structure of the building”
Special solution with project-specific arranged luminaire units
In order to illuminate the pavement and the adjacent green area from one luminaire, some of the LINEAs were adapted to the project and have two luminaire heads – offset by 180° – at different heights.
The lower luminaire head with a projection of 1200 mm is located at a height of 3.96 metres and illuminates the green areas, while the higher luminaire head with a projection of 1500 mm is at 4.65 metres and illuminates the footpath.
Three other LINEA luminaires (single headed) with a height of 6 metres are installed in the entrance area of the building, ensuring that the lighting situation is inviting.
Focus on lighting quality and efficiency
“Since the building is subject to LEED requirements, targeted and efficient illumination of the areas was important to us,” explains Jennifer Sippel. To this end, all design luminaires were equipped with several powerful LED modules in the light colour 4000K.
Depending on the location, different optics ensure the extremely precise and homogeneous illumination which is desired for the selected areas.
Project information
- Town / Country
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Lighting design
- Reflexion AG, Zurich
- Builder
- Community of owners of the Ambassador House