E2A Architekten

Profile

The office was founded in 2001 and is led by the brothers Piet and Wim Eckert. Currently the practice employs 30 architects working on 15 projects.

Sustainability
Expertise
E2A’s expertise and understanding in providing sustainability services has been built up over many years and enables E2A to deliver strategic advice and value adding solutions within urban and architectural planning processes. Demands on projects have become more complex and an interdisciplinary cooperation between client, architect and building services engineers is essential. E2A has acquired specialist knowledge in integrated design which ensures that innovative solutions are successfully implemented within the given framework.

References
Most recognized reference project is the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin. Its energy concept puts the building in the ecological vanguard. The energy consumption undercuts the legal maximum more by half and makes the building a leader in the field of modern office and conference centre design in Europe. The project was awarded with the Good Green Design Award 2010 and the CIO Green Award 2008. Additional reference projects in this field are the Sport Facilities Juchhof in Zurich, awarded with the Swiss Solar Prize 2008, and the Pavilion Nouvelle Destination for the Swiss National Exhibition expo.02, awarded with the Flying Fish (award for sustainable design). In addition, recent private and public projects comply with the Minergie®* Standard. (Swiss Label for sustainable design, considering energy efficiency, life cycle costs and integrated planning.)

Current Projects
Current Project in this field are: The sustainable renewal of the Shopping-Center Glatt, which will cope with latest technological standards and a new mixed-used building at the Europaallee Zurich. This building aims to set new standards for urban sustainability and to gain a pioneering role in establishing Zurich’s 2000-watt society. It will be among the first mixed-used buildings in Europe to operate with a zero CO2 emission.


Biography

Piet Eckert, dipl. Arch. ETH BSA SIA, 1968

1994; Degree in Architecture from ETH Zurich
1995-1997; Project Manager, Office for Metropolitan Architecture / OMA, Rotterdam
1996-2000; Visiting professor at the Technical University of Delft, lecturer at the ETH Zurich
1997-2001; Partnership with Wim Eckert
2001; e2a eckert eckert dipl. arch. eth. bsa. sia., Zurich
since 2009; Visiting professor for architecture and sustainable design at the HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU)

Wim Eckert, dipl. Arch. ETH BSA SIA, 1969

1995; Degree in Architecture from ETH Zurich
1996-1997; Project Manager, Office for Metropolitan Architecture / OMA, Rotterdam
1997-2001; Partnership with Piet Eckert
2001; e2a eckert eckert dipl. arch. eth. bsa. sia., Zurich
since 2009; Visiting professor for architecture and sustainable design at the HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU)

Swiss association of architects / Bund Schweizer Architekten BSA
Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects / Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverein SIA
Architectural Association Berlin / Architektenkammer Berlin

E2A conceives their work as a conceptual and operational interpretation of contemporary conditions. Architectural and urban design is no longer limited to the architectural idea by itself. Present conditions such as fixed budgets, high environmental standards, and an increasingly complex context, require strategic thinking as well as continuous anticipation. Instead of resisting the present conditions it is essential to determine what can be achieved for architecture.

Since 1997, Piet and Wim Eckert have worked on more than 200 projects, of which 25 projects have been realized. Early key projects were the pavilion Nouvelle Destination for the Swiss National Exhibition expo.02 (2002), the Broëlberg Housing Estate in Kilchberg (2003), the exhibition project Das Hotel for the Tyrolean National Exhibition (2005) and the Terrace Housing in Meilen (2005).

E2A has completed a series of houses and residential buildings around Zurich. Thereby the small scale serves as an experimental ground for researching specific architectural topics. Among these projects are: the Two Family Residence in Feldmeilen (2000), the Slope Houses in Rueschlikon (2000) and Herrliberg (2001), the Country House (2007), the GSC House (2008) and the Triangle House in Winterthur (2008).

Since 2001, E2A has entered national and international competitions and Studys successfully. Subsequently, a number of public projects have been completed: the Sports Facilities Juchhof (2007), the Center for Hearing and Language (2008) and the extension of two School Buildings (School facility Obstgarten) in Staefa (2008). In September 2008, the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin was being inaugurated, for which international competition E2A was awarded the first prize in 2006. The School Centre in Opfikon and the Auditorium in Staefa have been completed in 2010. E2A also received much attention for several international competitions entries.

This includes: the new Natural History Museum St. Gallen (2nd prize, 2009), the Kunsthaus Zürich (2008, 2nd stage), the European Patent Office in The Hague (final round, 2004) and the World Trade Organization - Extension in Geneva (1st prize, 2002). Recent and current projects represent a change to a larger scale: The office was awarded with the first prize for the Masterplan for the Escher Wyss Areal, the largest industrial area in Zurich. Current projects include: the 60 m high-rise apartment building Escher-Terrassen, which will incorporate apartments and the rehearsal stages of the Zurich Opera, an industrial hall for the production of high-tech devices and a mixed-used building Europaallee in the City Center of Zurich.

Projects of E2A have been published on a international levl in monographs, numerous magazines and books. In 2009 the fifth monograph Serien 2004- 09 was released. The work has been shown in prestigious architecture galeries: In 2008 at the Architektur Galerie Berlin (The ideal Context), at the Architekturgalerie am Weissenhof in Stuttgart (E2A. Serien 04-09) and in 2010 at the Architekturgalerie Luzern (E2A. Modelle).

BDA Award Berlin 09, 2009
recognition for the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin

Swiss Solar Award, 2008
for the Sports Facilities Juchhof, Zurich-Altstetten

Best architects 09 award, 2008
for the Triangle House, Winterthur

Best architects 08 award, 2007
for the Terrace Housing, Meilen

Flying Fish, 2002, award for sustainable constructions
for the pavilion Nouvelle Destination, expo.02, Biel

Piet and Wim Eckert are appointed visiting professors for architecture and sustainable design at the HafenCity University Hamburg. The chairs’ focus lies in establishing a think-tank involving academics and professionals from engineering sciences, humanities and architecture to research on the interface of sustainability, engineering and architectural design.

In addition, E2A is part of the interdisciplinary urban design group within the research programm «Sustainable Urban Patterns (SUPat)», which is lead by the ETH Zurich - Chair for Information Architecture. SUPat is part of the national research project «New Urban Quality» and it is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. This research programm aims to develop concepts and strategies that focus on innovative urban spaces.