Hotel Greulich, Zurich

Different Views

Details
Clients
Dr. Thomas Brunner, Zürich
Type
Courtyard
Collaboration
Romero & Schaefle Architekten
Period
2000 - 2003
Status
Realised
Area
1 100 m²
Country
Switzerland

By remodelling the commercially used rooms into Hotel Greulich, new courtyards were created, some of which are only accessible to hotel guests. The selection of materials and plants still refers to the former factory courtyard. A striking design element of the exterior spaces is the birch court planted with birches from the Garden of Violence of Expo.02.
 

Their serial and yet random arrangement dominates the view. Depending on whether an observer is standing in the garden or looking from a hotel window, different aspects become visible: trunks, crowns, or the copse-like leafy canopy are only partly visible. Furthermore, the jump in scale created by the partial lighting and the play of shadows this creates on the walls of the house is somewhat confusing. In the car-park and delivery areas, the white colour of the birch trunks contrasts with the tarmac. In spring, the lilies of the valley beneath the trees give off an intensive fragrance.