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Sihlpost Hiltl, Zürich

Atelier ushitamborriello, Baden/Oberholzer & Brüschweiler Architekten, Küsnacht

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Designer
Atelier ushitamborriello, Baden/Oberholzer & Brüschweiler Architekten, Küsnacht
Client
Hiltl AG Zürich, Rolf Hiltl
Floor area
400.00 ㎡
Completion
2016

The Sihlpost building owes its pivotal role to the mighty dimensions and the location adjacent to Zurich’s main train station, thus communicating between the city centre and the quarter near the Europaallee. The latest partitions of the postal building designed by the Bräm brothers were put into operation in 1930. Increasing digital communication gave leeway for new usage in some parts of the building. This opportunity was used to relocate the traditional vegetarian restaurant Hiltl and give it a new home in the front part of the Sihlpost building. 15 years ago Rolf Hiltl, owner of the restaurant, had the good sense to save the original post office counters, including lockboxes and miscellaneous other items of the Sihlpost from demolition. Consequently, the conceptional design of the restaurant was strongly determined by the fact that we were acting in historical premises and had original items and decor at our disposal.The alternation between retrieval and reinvention, innovation and tradition is the leitmotif of the entire restaurant. The fundamental attitude, to develop the conceptional design from the wealth of existing substance of a listed monument and to interlink it with a fresh, readable new utilisation is key to this unique and authentic vibe.