EMPA Sprint Unit

The Sprint unit project was realized at the same time as the founding of Zirkular. The contract was awarded to situ, but the planning and execution according to the principles of Design for Disassembly required a fluent collaboration between in situ and the young team of Zirkular. The project was developed in collaboration with various players from research (Empa), business (Bouygues E&S InTec Schweiz AG, HUSNER AG, Glassolutions) and the public sector (City of Dübendorf).

The goal was to construct an office building on the 2nd floor of NEST, Empa’s modular research and innovation building in Dübendorf, with the highest possible proportion of reused components and second-hand materials. Covid-19’s need for office space that could be flexibly configured in terms of size defined the layout of the unit.

The 200 m2 building was designed to be completely deconstructable and separable into individual elements. Novel possibilities for reuse were tested and scientifically evaluated. In cooperation with innovative entrepreneurs, the modular units were built mainly of wood and supplemented with various secondary building elements such as bricks, carpets and glass partitions. The Sprint unit was put into operation in summer 2021.