The creation of a remarkable new place.

Detlef Schulz, you are the lead architect of the Lake project – what was the vision?
Lake is located on the very shores of Lake Zurich. It joins a series of venerable, mostly neoclassical insurance buildings. Facing the lake, there is a large terrace with abundant greenery for shade. On the other three sides, the Business Campus is bordered by gardens of hedges and trees. Intertwined with its surroundings in terms of urban development and landscape architecture, Lake aims to offer an attractive location at the heart of the upscale Enge district.

Which architectural elements and design decisions make Lake exclusive?
The unmistakable appearance of the building is primarily determined by its asymmetrical H shape with different side wings. This specific shape echoes the original Mythenschloss, a sophisticated residential building that once stood here. The deliberate design of the exterior façades and the complete absence of an inner courtyard ensure that the office spaces directly adjacent to the exterior façade benefit from optimal lighting and views. The open-space concept also means that all workstations have exterior views in at least two directions. Secondly, the generously proportioned façade partitions unite in meticulous coordination with carefully formulated connections, materials, colours and different surfaces to create the building’s expression of exclusivity.

Lake is radiant in red – what is the idea behind this?
Through its red colour, Lake is integrated into the immediate and wider context on three levels. Firstly, the tone is a typological nod to the first purpose-built office buildings of the modern era in Chicago in the late 19th century, which were constructed of steel and clad in earth-coloured terracotta. On a second level, it creates a sense of cohesion between Lake and the other red buildings on the other side of the lake, Rote Fabrik, Rotes Schloss and the extension to the Opera House. Ultimately, the red colour is also a response to the shimmering green of its neighbour, the Swiss Re Next building, and the striking red brick roof of the old Swiss Re building. As a result, all three Swiss Re buildings appear as a colour-coordinated ensemble without losing their individuality.

However, the red colour is not achieved by paint or pigment …
Exactly, the building is not coated with a glaze or paint, but rather gets its red tone from the materials and aggregates themselves that are part of the concrete mixture. These give the building its unmistakable colour, which varies from deep red to a warm earthy shade depending on the daylight.

Can you give us an insight into some of the innovative technologies used in this building?
The high groundwater pressure requires a solid, heavy-duty building structure. The air conditioning technology used takes advantage of this high internal mass with solid concrete surfaces and cores to ensure maximum internal climate stability. This means that the desired temperature and humidity can be achieved and stabilised without having to precondition large quantities of air. This would require much more space in the control rooms and shafts and result in more electricity consumption. In other words, by exploiting the existing building mass, the ‘innovative technology’ in Lake follows the philosophy of ‘low-tech’ in order to make complex and ultimately less sustainable ‘high-tech solutions’ obsolete.