Start-ups, young design consultancies and expanding businesses need room in which to refine and develop their ideas. In concrete terms, they need affordable business space that is modular and flexible, will grow with them and can accommodate changing working structures simply and easily. The remit here was to create an office and service building for this target group in the Zürich district of Binz. It was to offer units from 60m2, a flexible floor plan and an open feel with informal meeting areas and service provision.

What have these three buildings got to do with Huey, Dewey and Louie – or Tick, Trick and Track as they are known in German? Just like Donald’s nephews, they are smart, resourceful and daring, an ensemble of upmarket shell construction designed for cost-conscious tenants with a range of different requirements. Thanks to its open construction grid and modular, pre-fitted technical services, all the rental space can be adapted to specific needs. The heart of the complex is the first-floor creative mall that links the three buildings and provides informal meeting and events space. The ground floor houses shops, cafes and restaurants.

The facade: elegance, connection, function 
The exterior appearance is characterised by an elegant concrete curtain-wall facade that gives the building structure and underlines its architectural coherence. The thermal envelope with extensive window glazing is supplemented by concrete elements that encircle the buildings, projecting out far enough to provide natural shading and dispense with the need for additional exterior protection from the sun. In architectural terms Tic, Tric and Trac blend perfectly into this largely commercial district.