Forum UZH prepares to clear next hurdle

A pre-project in connection with the planned Forum UZH has now been completed, thereby bringing to a close the first phase of the project planning, the University of Zurich (UZH) writes in a press release. The envisaged nine-story building for the UZH research and education center will form “the future hub of the University of Zurich in the heart of the Zurich City university district”, the press release explains further. A large part of the building is to be made accessible to the public.

The cost of the new building is expected to amount to 598 million Swiss francs. The Government Council of the Canton of Zurich has now referred a corresponding loan application to the Cantonal Council, according a separate press release issued by the Chancellery of the Canton of Zurich. It goes on to explain that the Forum UZH project will provide “the urgently needed additional space for teaching and research”. In addition, the Communications Department of the Government Council underlines the function of the planned research and education center as a “link between the three long-standing, esteemed institutions of the University of Zurich, University Hospital Zurich and ETH Zurich”.

The seven above-ground floors of Forum UZH are to be reserved for research and teaching. Law, economics and modern philology will occupy the top four floors, while seven of the 40 locations of the university library are also set to move into the new building. An inner forum, right at the heart of the building, designed as a large hall that breaks through the entire structure, should lend the building “an open, convivial atmosphere across all floors”, the UHZ writes in its press release. Forum UZH is scheduled to open in 2029.