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The Circle at Zurich Airport business park

Tags: Headquarter and offices development project

The Circle at Zurich Airport business park

«The Circle» at Zurich Airport Business Park is a vibrant 200,000-m2 complex that redefines the way a global audience is welcomed by a community of extraordinary service providers in many exciting growth segments. It is an oasis that offers many different user groups a diverse and appealing mix of upscale amenities in a stunning environment with a high level of urban lifestyle quality. It is a premium address for discerning individuals from all over the world, a destination in its own right.

Located at the intersection of international and national transportation systems, this conveniently accessible centre of excellence unites three essential attributes that set it apart from all other concepts of its kind: it is decidedly Swiss, refreshingly surprising, and authentically cosmopolitan.

«Divers(c)ity» is the name of the winning project of the three-tier architectural competition that attracted over 90 high-calibre entries from all over the world. The draft developed by Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, a Japanese architectural firm, is characterised primarily by Swiss understatement and high atmospheric quality derived from the eloquence of its compact urban format. It promises to become a milestone of the architectural landscape in which Zurich Airport is embedded.

Seen from the airport, «Divers(c)ity» is an impressive structure that syncopates the prominent shapes of the existing airport, and from the hillside, it resembles a metropolitan kernel that blends with the greenery. Inspired by the motto «from bustle to serenity», the protective façade allows an urban scenery to unfold in interesting spaces and areas. On the ground floor plane, an eclectic lattice of streets, plazas, and passageways meanders its way along the entire length of the complex, activating adjacent entrances, marketing platforms, gastronomic venues as well as areas intended for cultural activities and general public uses on multiple levels. A glass roof interconnects the cubatures on a mezzanine plane that serves as a further access level. The result is a multifaceted juxtaposition of individual volumes and contiguous modules that ideally merge public, semi-public, and private zones. Tenants are assigned their own descriptive addresses. At the same time, the project affords great flexibility with respect to phasing across the entire life span of the building complex.

«Divers(c)ity» provides a framework for living diversity that attracts visitors and arouses their curiosity. The distinctiveness of the architecture with its clear expression of attributes such as «swiss», «cosmopolitan», and «surprising» give the vision of «The Circle» a fit-for-the-future personality.

As the next step, the draft will be evolved to the status of a functioning, economical project within the scope of a preliminary study. Provided these specifications are met, construction will begin in 2012.

Pictures

  • Ansicht Bushof
  • Plaetze Gassen
  • Eventraum
  • Plaetze Gassen 2
  • Uebergang Geubaeude Park

Zurich as leading Headquarter location in Europe

Comparative analysis of business environments based on location factors that matter most for regional or corporate headquarter activities.

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  • Operating costs
  • Business environment
  • Global integration

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Your business environment DNA:

Comparative analysis of Zurich as a headquarter location

European Headquarter locations - business environment analysis case study

1. Sponsors

PwC and CLS Communications Language Services sponsored the European Headquarters study.

2. Objective

Your headquarter (global or regional) location says a lot about your company growth ambitions, its (financial) strategy and culture. To complicate headquarter site selection further, no company decision is more personal for executives than where you put your headquarter. All 16 Cities we pre-selected for this comparative analysis are great places to work and live. They are also very different in crucial areas of your location selection decision making. PwC and Global-Arena.com want to provide you a model that helps you conduct a systematic evaluation of the suitability of these locations relative to your business needs. please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.

3. Scope

Locations:

Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Geneva, London, Luxembourg, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich.

Data Series:

Operating Costs

  • Labor Costs
  • Occupancy Costs
  • PwC effective Tax Rate

Business Environment

  • Labor Productivity
  • Labor Flexibility
  • Ease of Doing business

Global Integration

  • Socio-political index: Political stability indexeconomic freedom index; corruption perception index
  • KOF Globalization Index
  • Logistical Performance

4. Results

Initial Case Study settings:

All decision factors are equally weighted.

The results:

When all location factors are equally weighted, the top ranking locations are Antwerp, Dublin, Copenhagen, Brussels and Geneva.  Berlin, Munich, Paris and Milan are ranked near the bottom – primarily because of labor market flexibility and the KOF globalization index results. Surprisingly, London is ranked near the bottom.  

The good performance of the Belgian cities should not be surprising. In spite of political challenges, the country is at the center of European integration and has an excellent track record in attracting foreign direct investment. Although London is traditionally a European headquarters location, this study reflects the increasing importance of European headquarters being located on continental Europe.

For review:

For many companies, the compelling most compelling factors that impact a headquarter location decision are socio-political stability, labor market flexibility and the ease of doing business. When these factors are heavily weighted, the top ranking locations are Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Zurich and Geneva. If corporations place high value on these factors, that would explain the prevalence of London as a headquarter location. Global Arena methodology allows you to select the criteria that are most important for your situation.

5. Appendix

  • Location filters
    • Location type:
      • Headquarter-location

About this analyses

Your headquarter (global or regional) location says a lot about your company growth ambitions, its (financial) strategy and culture. To complicate headquarter site selection further, no company decision is more personal for executives than where you put your headquarter. All 16 Cities we pre-selected for this comparative analysis are great places to work and live. They are also very different in crucial areas of your location selection decision making. PwC and Global-Arena.com want to provide you a model that helps you conduct a systematic evaluation of the suitability of these locations relative to your business needs. please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.


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Location

Thanks to its political stability, conservative fiscal policy, and well-educated workforce, Switzerland is a preferred domicile country among large, globally active corporations and international organisations. Switzerland consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including per capita income, computer and Internet usage, and quality of available health care. For these and many other reasons, numerous corporations have established a business presence in Switzerland in the recent past, among them McDonald’s Europe, Bombardier Transportation, and Google.

Zurich is the country’s largest city and focal point of business, finance, higher education, and research. With its superb infrastructure, it is one of the world’s most liveable cities with benchmark purchasing power. With 250,000 takeoffs and landings each year, Zurich Airport is the region’s gateway to the globe. The award-winning quality-driven intercontinental hub networks Switzerland with all economic, academic, and cultural communities in the northern and southern hemispheres.

This is the pivot point of «The Circle», the nucleus of a world apart, a destination unto itself. It is arguably the best-accessible location in Switzerland.

Synergies

«The Circle» is not only a prestigious address for an eclectic mix of commercial ventures, it is also a paragon of synergetic power. In a single, compact, and conveniently navigable space, visitors will find seven realms, each with its own distinctive appeal and exquisite offers. Together and individually, these zones are revenue-building platforms for domestic and international brand spaces, corporate embassies, and service providers.

Target group

The millions of international customers welcomed by Zurich Airport from all parts of Eastern and Western Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia are highly receptive to the finer things in life. Unquestionably, this also applies to consumers who live in Switzerland, southern Germany, western Austria, and northern Italy and frequent «The Circle» to enjoy all the amenities of a highly desirable lifestyle destination.

Symbolically, we refer to our audiences as Mumbai, Milan, and Männedorf to denote international, regional, and local visitorship communities. Together, they represent the whole world.

About us

Vermarktungspartner «Headquarters & Offices»

SPG Intercity Zurich AG
Zollikerstrasse 141, Postfach, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland.

An independently owned and operated member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance

Phone: +41 44 388 58 48
Visit our website