Residential development Zelgstrasse , Uster

The Project
The «Im Zelg» residential development in Uster comprises five six-story apartment buildings with a total of 164 residential units. The buildings are based on identical floor plans on the upper floors, while the ground floors were individually designed to meet varying requirements. Timbatec was brought into the project during the transition from masonry to timber construction. Working closely with Renggli AG, the company was responsible for developing and drafting the structural design for the timber construction. The transition required precise coordination between architecture, structural engineering, and construction, resulting in a sustainable and structurally optimized solution.

The Construction Method
The construction method is characterized by an innovative structural concept. The floor slabs were constructed using TS3 technology. This enables an efficient, material-optimized flat-slab construction with high flexibility in floor plan design. Load transfer occurs primarily via load-bearing exterior walls, while only a few load-bearing walls and columns are required inside.

The Challenge
For sustainability reasons, the project was converted from a masonry structure with a wood facade to a comprehensive timber construction—and this was done at a late stage. Consequently, the structural design of the buildings had to be developed within an already defined framework, which required close collaboration among all parties involved.