Prime Tower

At the western edge of downtown Zurich, a 126-meter high office tower, Prime Tower, has risen near the Hardbrücke train station, currently representing the tallest structure in Switzerland. The thirty-six-story tower is the most prominent and also the first completed part of the ambitious 'little Manhattan' project. Its authors are local architects Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer, who won an international competition in 2004 with their extensive urban redevelopment project for the train station's forecourt. Construction of the skyscraper began in January 2008, and it opened to the public on December 12, 2011. The final form of the emerald skyscraper consists of a fusion of cubic masses. Two diagonally connected rectangles are joined by additional volumes at varying heights, creating setbacks or protrusions. The €110 million project offers nearly 40,000 m² of office space, which was immediately leased, giving the investor the confidence to embark on the construction of several other towers around Prime Tower. In the western part of the site, a residential complex called 'Maaghof' is gradually rising, comprising hundreds of apartment units. Since the completion of Prime Tower, the population in this area has increased by 4,000, and the number of jobs by 10,000.
Gigon/Guyer add to the project: “The greenery of Prime Tower benefits from the slightly reflective glass façade, which outlines the sharp edges of the sculptural form. The use of color had nothing to do with the tower's presence in the urban space. On the contrary, the tower should be as open and multifaceted as possible, to withstand everyday visual contact with the surrounding population for as long as possible. This sometimes dark, sometimes greenish-blue coloration is not only welcoming to the city but also to the surrounding natural elements such as the sky, lakes, and wooded hills.”