Nowadays musical theatres are inherent parts of our urban cultural landscape. There is a correlation between the establishment of this popular performing art and the choice of unconventional venues. Former industrial halls often give the musicals a special atmosphere. Both the rich industrial history of the location Oerlikon and the prominent neighbourhood to the Hallenstadion and Messe Zurich (trade fair) offer in this respect ideal conditions for a musical theatre.

When starting to work on the competition it soon became evident that a “gentle” conversion was not possible within the financial and technical framework. Only a strategy dealing in a radical way with the existing building fabric could succeed. Demolishing the original Stadthof provided the chance of realising a customized building.

A new spatial layer was placed around the laid open and enlarged stage and auditorium, which develops its height in a way that the highest point is reached at the corner of Thurgauer-/Wallisellenstrasse, thus proclaiming a confident urban attitude. This simple volumetric gesture mediates between the opposite Hallenstadion and the adjoining small-scale residential houses at Birnbaumstrasse.


The dynamics of the new building is counteracted by the presence of the heavy stage tower. A skin of perforated steel and aluminium sheeting covers the building “all over”, thus underlining the equality of roof and walls. With the exception of the few precisely composed “eye windows” and the glazed entrance area, the aluminium sheeting covers dozens of small windows. The theatre obtains two faces like the neighbouring Hallenstadion: at daytime it seems mysteriously secretive, while at night a glittering and festive atmosphere is created. More detail visit architecture-page.

Project details

* Project Name: Conversion Theatre 11
* Client: MCH Messe (Schweiz) Zurich A
* Project Type: Building
* Principal Designer/s: EM2N | Mathias Mueller | Daniel Niggli
* Design Team: Dirk Hamdorf, Elke Kirst, Sidsel Kromann, Verena Lindenmayer, Claudia Meier, Mathias Muller, Verena Nelles, Daniel Niggli, Claudia Peter, Frank Schneider, Christof Zollinger
* Contractor/s: Bauengineering.com AG
* Date of commencement of project: March 2005
* Date of completion of project: September 2006
* Location of site: Zurich, Switzerland
* Site Area: 3930 m2
* Built-up Area: 9188 m2 (Gross Floor Area), 2724 m2 (Building Footprint)
* Cost of Construction/Execution: CHF 22, 320, 000