Duebendorf, Switzerland

Led by Philippe Block, Professor of Architecture and Structures, and Arno Schlueter, Professor of Architecture and Building Systems from ETHZurich together with industrial partners have created HiLo—the latest addition to Empa and Eawag’s modular NEST research building in Duebendorf, Switzerland.

Future buildings will require significant improvements to adhere to 2050 greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. 

One method is to consider building components as multifunctional elements. These elements can perform several functions simultaneously, such as energy and structural aspects, which bear the potential to reduce both operational and embedded emissions. 

As opposed to traditional sequential design, in which each building element performs a dedicated function. 

The former requires an integrated design approach to prioritize the use of renewable energy sources and the reduction of construction materials. 

HiLo is also a node in the NEST district energy hub (Empa ehub), which enables the harvesting, storage, conversion, and transferring of energy.

Each building unit is connected to the ehub using multiple thermal and electrical grids. These grids operate in both directions, which allows surplus energy to be transferred between building units or to the ehub. 

Featuring a doubly curved concrete roof, lightweight funicular floors, and self-learning building technology, the new unit reflects nearly a decade of ETH Zurich research in architecture and sustainable technologies. 

Sitting at the intersection of past and future, HiLo was inspired by medieval building principles and planned and built using state-of-the-art computational design and fabrication techniques.

Block and Schlueter along with industrial partners explored how lightweight structures and efficient construction methods can be combined with intelligent and adaptive building systems to reduce embodied and operational emissions in the construction and building industry.

The unit’s roof, for example, derives its load-bearing capacity from its curved geometry combined with a “concrete sandwich structure,” which is made of two thin layers of reinforced concrete connected by a grid of concrete ribs and steel anchors.

Additionally, as per ETH Zurich, “To save large amounts of formwork material, the roof was built using a flexible formwork consisting of a tensioned cable net covered with a thin membrane onto which the concrete was sprayed.”

For the mezzanine floors of the unit, the research team aimed to use as little material as possible.

The team used a rib-stiffened funicular shell instead of a flat plate, which allowed HiLo to use over 70 percent less material than conventional floor slabs in reinforced concrete.

Digital production methods also allowed the integration of ventilation, cooling, and low-temperature heating systems into the floor structure for an increased reduction in materials and size.

Another innovative building technology component of HiLo is its adaptive solar façade, which consists of 30 photovoltaic modules that can be aligned with the sun. They can also control how sunlight enters the space allowing for efficient indoor climate regulation. 

“HiLo stands for ‘high-performance low emissions’,” states ETH Zurich. 

“The unit allows researchers to test how the construction and operation of buildings can be designed to be as energy- and resource-efficient as possible, while at the same time ensuring an attractive architectural space and a high level of comfort.”

HiLo is the eighth module in the NEST building, a research and innovation facility where materials and systems are tested, researched, developed, and validated under real conditions.

Researchers from ETH Zurich previously worked on another structure atop the NEST research building called the DFAB House, which was built using digital building techniques and programmed robots.

Project: HiLo—Research & Innovation Unit for NEST
Architects: ETHZurich
Research Team: G. Lydon, Y. Peng, B. Svetozarevic, I. Hischier, L. Walker, A. Silvestri, G. Kreuzer-Sanchez (former A/S Team / Z. Nagy, J. Hofer, A. Willmann, P. Jayathissa, M. Begle, S. Caranovic).
Key Partners: lock Research Group (ETH Zurich) and Chair of Digital Building Technologies (ETH Zurich)
Funding: ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), NCCR Digital Fabrication – Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe (MERCE-UK)
Photographers: Roman Keller and Georgia Chousou / ETH Zurich, Digital Building Technologies