Residential and commercial high-rise building Obstverband

Client: Schweizer Obstverband

Location: Baarerstrasse 88, 6300 Zug

Service: 2,000 m²

Number of apartments: 26

Completion: 2015

Competition: 1st prize

Award: Arc Award in the Living Worlds’ Silver category, recognising good buildings in the canton of Zug

The sculptural, vertical structure marks a corner of the Guthirt district in Zug. Placing it on the northern edge of the plot creates a free space in the southern part of the building area, which gives the high-rise building ‘room to breathe’.

The building is vertical and structured according to stacked building units.

A recessed plinth marks the main entrance on the ground floor.

A wider office wing has a ledge at the eaves height of the neighbouring building and thus connects optically with the surrounding buildings. An elevated residential wing marks its corner orientation towards the southwest, towards the old town and Lake Zug. Finally, there is an attic level with technical facility rooms. 

The supporting structure of the high-rise was developed in such a way as to be able to efficiently transfer the load, taking into account the spatial and volumetric requirements.

Support, access and spatial structure form an architectural whole with the façade. As a creative and organisational structure, the design therefore meets both architectural-aesthetic and technical-economic requirements and reflects the understanding of a building as a complex system.

The external appearance is in line with the structure’s internal use distribution and construction system. The four lower office floors stand out in the façade as horizontal levels. The residential areas on the upper floors have different room heights, allowing horizontal balustrades to meander over the façade. Depending on the incidence of light, the façade structure is either dominated by the horizontal balustrades or the vertical window sashes and loggias, or even both together in a balanced relationship.