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Tag: Innovationspark Zürich

  • Outlook with the Innovation Park in Dübendorf

    Outlook with the Innovation Park in Dübendorf

    Mr Thöny, where does the structural development stand?
    We are currently in development stage 1, the peripheral zone of the airfield site, where we are meeting the space requirements of our research partners ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich as well as initial users from business and industry. In addition, there are test and meeting areas as well as flexible and temporary facilities in front of the hangars. At the same time, we are working intensively on the development and planning of stage 2, i.e. the first stage of new buildings.

    How will the Innovation Park become an inspiring place for researchers?
    We are working on the vision of this “research city of the future”. When you enter the Innovation Park Zurich in the near future, you will immediately feel and see that this is an exceptional place for research and development. We are creating a unique environment for researchers. The companies and research partners will have the opportunity to bring their employees into a context that otherwise only very large tech companies like Apple can offer. At the same time, the historical heritage, the former military airfield, remains recognisable as such and can be experienced.
    We see the Innovation Park as a “Cognitive City”, a digitally highly networked urban space with outstanding and sustainable architecture and landscape architecture and an attractive range of different campus uses that will grow over the years, where people can work, do research, meet and exchange ideas, eat and drink, relax and do sports. In other words, a place with a high quality of stay and life, where the focus is always on people. At the same time, a new, diverse range of services, leisure and recreation facilities is being created for the population of the surrounding communities and the entire region.

    What is the next milestone on the way to realising this vision?
    Last year we launched an architectural competition in which renowned national and international offices as well as three up-and-coming firms participated. From the 28 designs submitted, we will select seven projects together with a jury, which will then be developed as part of the first major new building phase. In the second half of the year we will be able to show a concrete picture of the future Innovation Park site for the first time.

    New premises are being built on the site.
    What does the development & realisation phase look like?
    We are working on an “Industrial Hub” with ETH Zurich and a “Space Hub” with the University of Zurich. Both are very exciting projects and in themselves “small innovation parks” in the Innovation Park. In addition, various smaller buildings and projects are being planned for the start and the first tenants.

    About the person
    Andrea Claudio Thöny is an architect ETH. After working as an architect and in real estate consulting, he joined HRS in 2018 and has been Head of Real Estate Development since 2020. His focus is on the development of special projects in the areas of research and development, commercial and special uses, as well as business development, M&A and restructuring. Since 2019, he has been responsible for the Innovation Park Zurich as overall project manager, and since 2023 additionally as managing director of IPZ Property AG.

  • Innovation at the Dübendorf airfield

    Innovation at the Dübendorf airfield

    The airfield area in Dübendorf is to be developed further. Among other things, a new platform for research, development and innovation is being created here with the Zurich Innovation Park. It is intended to promote cooperation and exchange between science and business – and thus support the implementation of research results in marketable products and services. According to the BAK study, the Zurich Innovation Park should create around 10,000 jobs and an annual added value of around CHF 1.9 billion.

    The Zurich Innovation Park Foundation is responsible for setting up and running it. It was founded in September 2015 by the Canton of Zurich, ETH Zurich and ZKB. The canton of Zurich, the three local communities of Dübendorf, Volketswil and Wangen-Brüttisellen and the federal government are developing the area together.

    The jointly developed synthesis report of the project partners forms the basis for the development of the area. This also shows how the Dübendorf airfield area should be presented overall in the future, which uses are planned and how these are spatially distributed. The area will be divided into four sub-areas:

    A first area is reserved for the Zurich Innovation Park, in which research is to be carried out in particular in the areas of mobility, robotics, aviation, space travel and advanced manufacturing & materials. In the second sub-area, the innovation park and a research, test and works airfield overlap to form an aviation cluster. In the third sub-area, the uses with high security requirements – the federal base of the Air Force and the Skyguide air traffic control center – can be further developed independently. In the fourth sub-area there are further aviation infrastructures. Nature conservation also plays a central role there. A continuous circular route around the airfield will also be created for the general public.

    The government council submitted three proposals to the cantonal council for further planning and implementation work. The cantonal government is requesting 97.45 million francs for the gradual development of the innovation park and 8.2 million francs for the planning of a research, test and works airfield.

    The cantonal council could decide on these templates by 2023. Renovation of the existing buildings is planned from 2023. Then the first building applications should be submitted. The implementation of the first buildings could therefore start from around 2024/2025.

    The Zurich Innovation Park aims to promote cooperation and exchange between science and business.
  • Innovation Park Zurich has billions of potential

    Innovation Park Zurich has billions of potential

    The Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich foundation commissioned the economic research institute BAK Economics to carry out a scientific study on the economic significance of the Zurich Innovation Park (IPZ ). The study comes to the conclusion that the direct and indirect added value of the IPS could add up to around 2.7 billion francs per year if fully expanded. With a share of 90 percent of the total value added, the canton of Zurich would benefit particularly strongly.

    The extensive study is divided into seven sections, ranging from the motivation for the analysis, the importance of innovation for the economy and society, the position of the Canton of Zurich in the innovation competition, to a detailed evaluation of the role that the Innovation Park Zurich plays in promoting growth and Prosperity could play rich. The study confirms that the canton of Zurich is underrepresented in industry, particularly in the high-tech sectors. According to the study authors, the IPZ could make a decisive contribution to upgrading the canton as an innovation location.

    According to the authors, the IPZ could form the “risk area” necessary for transformation innovations in addition to the corresponding risk capital. The park should position itself as a "link between universities, research institutes, the start-up scene and research-based industry", according to the study. Structures created there could enable “global players” to settle in innovative areas such as “mobility, space travel, aviation, robotics, greentech or new materials”.

    The Zurich Chamber of Commerce ( ZHK ) sees the results of the study as confirmation of their longstanding support for the innovation park. They show how important this is for the business and research location, she writes in a statement on the study. The ZHK hopes that the added value of the innovation park will lead to an acceleration of the ongoing procedures.