Data Center ETH Zurich

The new Hönggerberg Data Center (HRZ) of ETH Zurich, along with the boiler house, pump house, cooling tower, and auxiliary service buildings, forms part of an infrastructure ensemble on the Hönggerberg campus. Within this group, the HRZ serves as the new address and acts as a power block at the interface between the campus and the residential area.
The construction consists of vertical concrete walls and horizontally suspended wooden load-bearing structures. The concrete walls were material-optimized to create a thin, weather-resistant shell, allowing a portion of the heat to be vented directly outside. Since no concrete ceilings were required to connect to the rising walls, a climbing formwork system was employed, using specially developed connectors with distance holders made of zinc die-cast.
The ceilings were designed as beams or trusses, depending on the load, to support a uniform load of 2 t/m² from the servers across a span of 18.7 meters without the need for columns. The flexible server rooms ensure the long-term adaptability of the layout. Solid wood, laminated veneer lumber, and plywood elements were used selectively, depending on load requirements, creating an optimized wood-wood hybrid system. Externally, the order and materialization of the interior are expressed at the heads of the wooden beams, which extend through the load-bearing walls.