2023 – a year full of exciting challenges. We look back and review the most important events. Together, we have driven visions forward, realised projects, celebrated successes and mastered difficult situations. Thanks to our diverse and committed team.

Since joining the company six years ago, Tim Hildbrand-Severo has been strategically developing our BIM methodology. As the person responsible for our BIM processes, he became the youngest member of the Executive Board last year. Together with Andreas Derrer, Christoph Kellenberger, Jan Gloeckner, Gonçalo Manteigas and Raf Dauwe, they form a strong management team.

The second important personnel change was our first apprentice, Glenn Valsangiacomo. Glenn started his career with us under the expert guidance of our experienced structural draughtsman Armin Zurfluh and project manager Fabio Gieriet.

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Short-lived buildings, monotonous environments, designs overloaded with technology or ignorance of the local climate. The list is long. Our endeavour is all the greater. With Clever Cities, Clever Architecture and Clever Interiors, we have continued our commitment to our Vision 2023. Our conviction that all our results have a long-term impact on humans has guided us in every project.

Our sense of responsibility towards clients, users and society has been and will continue to be at the centre of everything we do. Only by shaping the environment, culture and context in a positive and sustainable way can we create inspiring spaces that contribute to the well-being of the individual and make a contribution to society.

As an experimental area for new working methods and innovative design concepts, we have redesigned our own upper floor. A central element of the new design was the introduction of activity based working.

On the upper floor, lush greenery now provides a surprising welcome and a pleasant atmosphere in the otherwise multifunctional space. The area is characterised by a kitchen for drinking coffee, cooking and eating together, open meeting zones and individual workstations. The smaller offices offer ideal retreats for concentrated work.

The aim was to reuse as much as possible. Our old desks were turned into a platform for our office forest and individual workstations, and our shelves were turned into a library with an integrated meeting zone.

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Ecological building materials and the reduction of CO2 emissions are important building blocks for achieving climate targets. After starting in 2023, we have now been an official project partner of the Beyond Zero unit since the beginning of this year and are investigating the potential of buildings as CO2 sinks at EMPA’s Nest research building.

More about Unit Beyond Zero

In addition to the conservation of grey energy, the shortage of building land and the densification of cities are contributing to an increase in repurposing and conversions. We have revitalised existing structures with new utilisation concepts. These projects combine history and the future by preserving the characteristic features of the original architecture and adding contemporary functions.

We have made the preservation of industrial buildings and cultural diversity as well as the alleviation of the housing shortage in Zurich West a top priority. With two working groups, we have helped to shape initiatives for urban intervention in planned construction projects.

Another focus was on the area of healthcare. The master plan for the Medicine Campus Davos continued to be implemented step by step. In 2023, two further projects were in the planning and realisation phase and further development potential for the site was examined.

Our research and development was strongly characterised by technological advances in the past year. These developments have increased our effectiveness and efficiency and improved our working methods:

• CO2 optimisation by measuring and reducing the grey energy of building components in BIM models.
• A project dashboard for a comprehensive overview and improved analysis of project data.
• The development of Python scripts to automate certain ArchiCAD processes in order to reduce manual activities, minimise sources of error and speed up the planning process.
• Parametric design to automatically analyse urban noise sources and shading situations.
• The use of IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) to improve collaboration with all project participants.
• The integration of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) into 3D models to combine geographic data with urban planning information.