What has ETH Zurich built recently?
To enable and support ETH Zurich's core business, the Real Estate Management department provides the necessary rooms and space. To this end, the department renovates, converts or builds new buildings and rents space. In 2024, several new and renovated buildings were handed over to the users.
1. BSS and Gloria Cube GLC
The departments were delighted. In 2024, two new buildings for research and teaching were officially inaugurated:
- the BSS in Basel for the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) and its scientific departmental and ETH-wide facilities, and
- the Gloria Cube (GLC) on the Zentrum campus for the Departments of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST) and Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET) as well as interdepartmental platforms
The new building in Basel has strengthened basic bioscientific research for applications in medicine and biotechnology. In Zurich, on the other hand, human research was decisively expanded and anchored with the GLC. The Zurich building gives research and teaching in medical technology, health sciences and human medicine at ETH Zurich a face. In both Basel and Zurich, the proximity of the ETH departments to hospitals, industry and the various research and university partners promotes cooperation. The modern buildings not only stand out architecturally, thanks to the best equipment they enable top-class research and teaching.
2. Hönggerberg campus
HIF
The renovated and expanded HIF building was also officially opened in 2024. It contains laboratories, offices, seminar rooms and workshops for the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG). The building was extensively renovated, particularly the facade and building services. At the same time, an extension was added that contains modern laboratories. In addition, a new forecourt was created near the structural engineering hall, which was also renovated, and upgraded to a small structural engineering hall. This small experimental hall serves as a supplement to the structural engineering hall. It is used for smaller test series and events. This January, Europe's largest research centrifuge was also officially inaugurated at the HIF. Its installation was very complex.
HPT and HPY research facility
The HPT, which like the HIF is also a teaching, research, workshop and office building, is in the final stages of renovation. In the future, the building will be used by the Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (IMPB), which will move there in stages from mid-January 2025 from the city center to Hönggerberg. Workshops are available for the Department of Physics (D-PHYS). With the renovation, the HPT and the HIF were designed to be barrier-free.
The new Laboratory for Plant Research (HPY) is in the final stages of construction. This will serve the institute as an additional research location in the future, alongside the HPT. The new building will consist of a greenhouse area and a zone for laboratory work and will be put into operation in summer 2025.
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The renovated HIF building (Photo: ETH Zurich / Studio Willen) -
The construction hall in the HIF building (Photo: ETH Zurich / Studio Willen) -
The new greenhouse on the Hönggerberg campus will be completed in 2025. (Photo: ETH Zurich)
Physics building HPQ and data center HRZ
The almost 20-meter-deep excavation pit for the HPQ office and laboratory building is the most striking feature among the construction projects on the Hönggerberg. By May 2025, the pit should have reached the necessary depth of 30 meters, and then the construction of the building can begin. Despite a detailed soil assessment, the workers encountered less rock than planned, which is why construction is slightly delayed. The handover of the physics building of superlatives to the Department of Physics (D-PHYS) is planned for 2030.
Construction of the HRZ Hönggerberg data center is going according to plan. The building shell is in place. CO2-enriched concrete was used for this. Handover to the IT Services is scheduled for early 2026.
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The picture shows the excavation pit at the HPQ construction site. -
The shell of the HRZ building is already standing. (Photos: ETH Zurich)
3. Zentrum campus
Main Building
The renovated forecourt of the main building (HG) was completed last year. Now it is barrier-free and can be better used for events, as the first net-zero campaign perfectly showed.
Necessary renovation work was also completed in the main building, such as the restoration of the historic Semper Aula and the sgraffito artwork on the north façade, as well as the windows and lighting. This January also saw the opening of the new reading room (formerly the InfoCenter) of the ETH Library. This year will see the inauguration of the newly renovated Semper Aula, which will be used again at the end of January for an international symposium.
In 2025 and especially in the following years, further refurbishments are planned. A website provides information about the projects and possible restrictions.
ML/FHK
The renovation of the ML/FHK building complex is complete. The art in the building was inaugurated in 2024 in the presence of the artist external page Maya Rochat. The artworks alone make a visit worthwhile. While the Student Project House in the rooms of the former district heating power station (FHK) has long been a success story, the machine hall is currently still being expanded for the RobotX initiative, which will move in with its robots in mid-2025.
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The main building with the renovated forecourt (Photo: ETH Zurich / Tonk) -
Also renovated: the Semper Aula in the main building (Photo: ETH Zurich / Feinerfotografie, Ralph Feiner) -
The ML hall: installation of meeting boxes, so-called think tanks (Photo: ETH Zurich / RobotX)
4. External sites
Dübendorf
In 2024, the remaining space in Hall 3 at the Innovation Park Zurich (IPZ) in Dübendorf was converted and made usable for ETH Hangar, an ETH platform for cooperation between industry and science in the field of hard tech. This created space for an auditorium for up to 70 people for presentations and lectures, as well as space for project-based teaching teams and collaborative projects with an industrial focus.
The Hangar team provides insights into the great location, work, etc. on external page LinkedIn. Hall 2 will be extended this year.
Further information
400 construction projects every year
This overview shows only a small selection of the construction projects at ETH in 2024. In general, the Real Estate Management department at ETH implements around 400 construction projects annually. The department's construction volume averages CHF 200 million per year in the long term. A large portion of the funds is used to maintain the existing buildings and to fulfill new legal requirements and regulations, for example in the area of fire protection. The department presents construction projects costing over CHF 10 million on this page.
Improved prioritization process for construction applications
In 2024, the Real Estate Management department introduced a new prioritization process for construction applications submitted by ETH members. Now, building applications are prepared and presented to the budget commissions of the VPIN and the Executive Board four times a year. The budget commissions have already approved 70 applications under the new process and given very positive feedback. The new process ensures that projects are launched more regularly and, in the best case, more quickly, and it also aims to optimize the use of financial resources.
Further information
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Note on the translation
This text has been translated for your convenience using a machine translation tool. Although reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, it may not be perfect. If in doubt, please refer to the German version.
Should you come upon significant translation mistakes, please send a short message to intern-aktuell-news@hk.ethz.ch so that we can correct them. Thank you very much.
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