New district – new way of life A walk through Europaallee over the Negrellisteg to Zollstrasse

Zurich is abuzz with activity day and night with its countless events, diverse museums and Switzerland’s most vibrant nightlife.

Die Macherei is a store where a collective of local designers offers their products for sale. These are designed in Switzerland and produced here or in Europe. In the shop, the designers sell their products themselves and by doing so create an opportunity to talk with their customers directly. A concept that can be found in many stores and restaurants on Europaallee and Zollstrasse: local and sustainable products, own production or selected niche products, expert advice and workshops. Here on the Europaallee and Zollstrasse, you know where the acquired piece comes from and are supporting those people who are committed to their work with much love and passion. 

Zollstrasse and Europaallee also offer a whole host of culinary delights: home-brewed beer, unpackaged regional organic food, dairy products from the city’s own cheese dairy, as well as seasonal dishes prepared with great care in which meat is not the focus. This is what the Osso restaurant is all about: they have turned the tables, so on the evening menu, you will find a homemade sausage, roast leg of goat or chicken croquettes listed under the heading “Side dish”. Their speciality, as the name “Osso” (Italian for “bone”) suggests, is the well-known Italian stew: Ossobucco. 

Everyone is welcome here! This guiding principle is followed in the Regenbogenhaus (Rainbow House) at Zollstrasse 117, where 18 LGBTQ organisations implement community projects together and offer services such as advice or a library exclusively with literature on LGBTQIA+ topics. The Regenbogenhaus is intended to increase the visibility of members of the LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness of their concerns, thus improving social inclusion. 

If you want to complete an intensive indoor cycling workout before dinner, then Open Ride is recommended. This is about really working up a sweat and burning off excess energy. Not only is a visit to the Open Ride worth a visit for the extremely motivating instruction by the coaches, but also for the spectacular light show that matches the beat of the lively music that accompanies the workout. The lights are dimmed at the start of the class, so that those taking part don’t need to worry about anyone seeing their strained expressions. Since this training session is as tough as can be, but it’s also tremendous fun, because not only are strength and a good level of fitness required, but also a sense of rhythm.

All those who have realised their dream with passion and enthusiasm on Europaallee and Zollstrasse in recent years owe this opportunity to the vision of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The SBB rents out all the spaces on Europaallee, and it was clear to it from the beginning that there should be diversity and liveliness on Europaallee. New and local aspects should emerge. Visitors should get the feeling of being in a place where people and products do not only have a purely financial value, but a personal and regional one. 

Right next to the main station, Europaplatz is the gateway to Europaallee, where the journey of discovery in terms of art, culture and architecture begins. One example is the permanent light installation “ALWAYS A WAY ALWAYS AWAY” by Austrian artist Brigitte Kowanz (*1957, †2022) that can be found on the roof of a building. So keep your eyes peeled, and the journey can begin. 

A spiral staircase winds around a round lift tower. At the top, a 161-metre-long pedestrian bridge leads over the imposing track fields to Zollstrasse on the other side. We are standing on the Negrellisteg, where the locals have drinks with one another in the evening as the sun goes down. From here, you can admire the impressive engineering skills that went into creating the bridge: just four supports hold it up over the entire width of the track field, giving the impression that it is floating. For this work, the civil engineers Jürg Conzett and Gianfranco Bronzini were awarded the Prix Meret Oppenheim by the Federal Office of Culture in 2022.

On Gustav-Gull-Platz, another architectural peculiarity stands out: the listed central signal box. A narrow rough concrete building, which is a remnant of the past, from when Europaallee still appeared as a wasteland and the SBB had various facilities here. After almost 50 years of use, rail traffic controllers and dispatchers moved out of the central signal box built in 1963. The central signal box is known for the “Zürich” lettering on a blue background that is visible from the track side and the unmistakable clock. 

If you walk through Europaallee, the diversity of its architecture is omnipresent, and it has it all, since no one building resembles the next – neither in its creation nor in its appearance. All in all, the district is characterised by a variety of architectures. This has to do with the overall urban development concept (master plan) Kees Christiaanse, Zurich/Rotterdam, which defines eight construction sites. This master plan was developed and advertised for tender in close cooperation with the City of Zurich through study procedures and architectural competitions.

Overview of the eight construction sites and their responsible architectural offices
Construction site A: Max Dudler, Zurich
Construction site B: Stücheli Architekten, Zurich
Construction site C: Max Dudler, Zurich; Annette Gigon/Mike Guyer, Zurich; David Chipperfield, London
Construction site D: Wiel Arets Architects, Zurich
Construction site E: Caruso St John Architects LLP, London; Bosshard Vaquer Architekten, Zurich
Construction site F: Boltshauser Architekten, Zurich
Construction site G: Graber Pulver Architekten, Zurich; Masswerk, Kriens/Lucerne
Construction site H: e2a eckert eckert architekten, Zurich

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of Europaallee took place in 2009, and the area was then completed in stages until 2021. The objective at that time was to create a district that would harmoniously combine leisure, work, living and studying, which today has been impressively achieved: no matter what time of day you stroll through Europaallee, there is always something to see, and it radiates a cosiness that invites you to stay a while and enjoy yourself. It is best to start at Europaplatz near the main train station. From there, Europaallee leads northwestward to Gustav-Gull-Platz, which marks the centre of the area. Here, a water feature covering an area of 400 square metres offers a place to cool off on hot days.