ETH HIL Building Becomes a Real Laboratory

(CONNECT) The two ETH departments of Architecture and Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering are turning the complete renovation and extension of the HIL building on the ETH Hönggerberg campus into a research project. Instead of handing over the construction planning to an external planning office, an internal planning team involving professors, mid-level staff and students will be responsible for it, according to an ETH report. With their diverse construction expertise, they will research interventions and constructions in the HIL Living Lab in order to advance sustainable, circular and resource-saving construction in existing buildings.

The HIL building was constructed between 1972 and 1976 and serves as the main building for the two architecture and construction departments. It has 800 workstations, 1600 seats in lecture halls and seminar rooms as well as large drawing rooms and has reached the end of its first life cycle. In particular, there is reportedly a considerable need for refurbishment in terms of fire protection and building services. In addition, the striking building envelope is insufficiently insulated.

In addition, the building is to be significantly expanded and extended by around 2035, as the ONA architecture site is to be abandoned and integrated. The project also addresses the central question of how work, teaching and research should be carried out at HIL in the future. The aim is to create a modern space that invites more interaction and collaboration with so-called hybrid teaching and learning landscapes. The parties involved still want to define what this means in concrete terms.

"The Living Lab enables us to incorporate teaching and research directly into a construction project," architecture professor Matthias Kohler is quoted as saying on the project's website. He initiated it together with the Director of the ETH Real Estate Department, Hannes Pichler. "The fact that we are researching our own 'home' makes it all the more exciting for us because we can help shape our future." ce/mm