Relaunch of the Centre for Students & Entrepreneurs
ETH Zurich had planned to construct a building on the Hönggerberg campus for students and entrepreneurial initiatives, but costs rose so sharply over the past two years that they could no longer be justified. As a result, the Executive Board of ETH Zurich has decided to relaunch the project.
The Centre for Students & Entrepreneurs will not be housed in the planned building, the visualisation of which has been widely shared with the community. At its meeting on 26 October 2023, the ETH Executive Board decided to launch a new project that can be implemented more cost-effectively.
“In the previous project, we were confronted with cost increases that led to a price per square metre that could not be justified for an ETH Zurich building with the intended use,” says Vice President for Infrastructure Ulrich Weidmann, who is in charge of buildings, summarising the situation that led to the Executive Board’s decision.
The original building’s architecturally striking design, created by a partnership of Buchner Bründler Planer AG and Rapp Architekten AG, emerged from a public competition in 2020. “Even then, it was clear to us that cost pressure was going to be a major challenge,” Weidmann recalls.
ETH tried to reduce costs in cooperation with the general contractor and with the involvement of user groups, but this was not sufficiently successful. One reason is that the building site is particularly challenging, as it is situated above an underground car park and so requires complex structural engineering that offers little potential for savings. At the same time, it became apparent that the needs of the user groups could no longer be met if greater cost cuts were made. There was also additional cost pressure from the sharp rise in inflation, which affected all construction projects.
“Regrettably, it wasn’t possible to realise satisfactory savings without endangering the fundamental concept behind the building,” Weidmann says. A study by external experts showed that the key cost figures for this project would be 40 percent higher than for comparable buildings.
With this in mind, the Executive Board has decided to stop the current project and has commissioned Weidmann to conduct a concept study to relaunch the endeavour. This will delay the project by about two years. The building is expected to be ready in 2030.
Centre for Students & Entrepreneurs
The Centre for Students & Entrepreneurs will become the new home for the VSETH and SOSETH student associations, the Student Project House, as well as the entrepreneurial initiatives ETH Entrepreneur Club, ETH Juniors, Pioneer Fellows, ETH Spin-Offs and ETH Entrepreneurship. It will bring student and entrepreneurial initiatives and projects together under one roof. In addition to offices that can be used flexibly, the building will contain event spaces and multipurpose rooms as well as a large makerspace for prototyping.
“The decision to stop the project wasn’t an easy one for the Executive Board. We’re aware that it may disappoint many stakeholders,” says ETH President Joël Mesot. These include especially the user groups (see box) who have put a great deal of work into the project over the past few years and now have to wait longer for their new home.
“We could no longer justify the looming cost of the building to the taxpayers and the many donors,” Mesot explains. With the relaunch, ETH Zurich is fulfilling its responsibility and ensuring that the financial resources serve the purpose of the Centre for Students & Entrepreneurs: to create a place where students can realise their creative ideas and join together in entrepreneurial initiatives. “This will incorporate the valuable experience gained from the project to date and further strengthen the ongoing dialogue with user groups,” Weidmann adds.
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