Retirement home Talstrasse, Wetzikon

The project
The construction project comprises a building with a total of 36 retirement apartments, consisting of 2.5-, 3.5-, room apartments and a 4.5-room janitor's apartment. The point block is oriented towards Talstrasse with two basement floors and towards the existing development with a garden level. It contains cellars, utility rooms, bicycle rooms, laundry rooms, a day nursery, a common room and an underground parking garage. In view of the realization of the housing estate, the existing residential building on the plot and the covered garage were demolished.

The construction method
The base storeys are built in solid construction. The storeys above are also built in solid construction, except for the load-bearing outer wall. The external building envelope is made of timber elements. It was erected floor by floor together with the solid construction and statically bears the loads of the concrete ceiling and also serves as end formwork for the concrete ceilings. This saves time and reduces the cost of scaffolding.

The challenge
The high column loads, which are transferred to the timber columns by the solid concrete ceilings, posed a particular challenge. Thanks to an optimized, precisely coordinated structural concept, all glulam columns could be integrated into the exterior walls in accordance with the specifications.