November 7, 2025

2162 Tower Windisch Brugg

Location:
Brugg, Switzerland

Project Duration:
2015 – 2021

Client:
BRUGG Immobilien

Landscape Architecture:
Studio Vulkan

Architecture:
Schneider & Schneider Architekten

Photography:
Daniela Valentini, Studio Vulkan

Details:

Creating a Garden for the Campus

Steinackerstrasse, originating at Brugg railway station, connects the buildings of the university of applied sciences and functions as the central axis of the campus. Alongside plaza-like expansions, it is above all the university’s new main building that reinforces the linear character of this promenade. Adjacent to it, a pocket-like open space unfolds – situated at the threshold between the academic realm of the campus and the industrial environment of the Kabelwerke Brugg.

This space distinguishes itself through its density and atmospheric intimacy, standing in clear contrast to the open plazas along the promenade and the park-like landscape surrounding the Haller buildings. Conceived as an enchanted garden room, it forms a spatial counterpoint. The central surface is bordered by a dark asphalt band – shaped as a gentle ramp to the east and as a stepped seating structure to the west. Beds of perennials and shrubs structure the space into smaller units, creating shaded areas for rest and play, embedded within gently sloping terraces that mediate between the campus and the industrial setting. The surfaces are composed of a light-colored, water-bound gravel path into which solitary trees are selectively planted. Wide concrete steps serve as versatile elements for sitting and reclining.

Laid out in gently offset curves, the terraces define focused zones for a variety of uses – ranging from play areas for children to outdoor seating for cafés and bicycle parking for adjacent hotels and businesses. Referencing the corrugated metal façades of the surrounding industrial buildings, the broad concrete steps subtly adopt this wave-like profile, anchoring the area’s transitional, mixed-use character within the collective memory – as a quiet tribute to its recent industrial past.