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Youth Home Erika - Zürich
Rötelstrasse 53, Zürich
1958 - 1959 / 1969 - 1970
In 1927 the city of Zurich acquired the property at Rötelstrasse 55, dating back to 1865, for the establishment and operation of a youth center.
The sloping terrain, facing southwest, halfway above the Limmat river and the industrial district, was used to be a preferred residential area.
Since the buildings of the property were built at that time for other purposes, they could not fully meet the requirements of a youth center.
It was therefore intended from the very beginning, to replace the house with a new building. A first project, arisen during wartime,
was shelved as a job creation scheme for the postwar period. But instead, the new building was postponed indefinitely due to the critical situation
on the construction market and the lack of labor force in the post-war period.
In the meantime, a new home and institution type had been developed which tried to transfer the conditions in the natural family to the homes and institutions,
calling for living in so-called family groups. The Zurich City Council therefore came to the conclusion that only a new project would be able to cope with
the needs of the modern pedagogical principles. The family group system should facilitate the reintegration of childrend and adolescent into the natural family.
One family group consisted usually of no more than 10 to 15 children of various ages and sexes and an educationally gifted couple. Center of the family group
should be the substitute parents. Spatially, the family group should be accommodated in a private house, a gazebo or an enclosed flat. For homes with several
family groups a complete separation of the groups should be guaranteed.
The youth home "Erika", built by Werner Frey served usually as a temporary admission of children of both sexes and school age, only in exceptional cases
a lasting accomodation of children was made. The size of the youth center has been configured for five groups of 10 to 11 children who were cared for
by five home managers and a caretaker couple. This principle corresponds to the structural layout of the facility. The central building contains the apartment of
the managers, rooms for auxiliary personnel, public spaces, while the five single-family homes for the groups are connected to the central building.
Because of its size and shape, the extraordinarily beautiful trees worth of preservation the available parcel and the selected pavillon solution
were of very limited scope. A very concentrated single family house type had to be found, which also had to fulfill the requirement that the bedrooms
were turned away from the busy Rötelstrasse. The core of these house is the living room with three levels, which give access to the children's room and adjoining rooms.
It was ensured that the supervisor, regardless of its location in the house, was awarded good visual and acoustic connection to the other rooms.
By structuring the living space into different levels the children were given the opportunity to come together in small groups.
Breakfast and dinner were served within the group, while the lunch was served in the dining hall of the central building. All three meals were prepared in the central kitchen.
In the group homes has been established a small kitchen for snacks and nursing. In front of the living room a patio gives the possibility of staying outdoors in seperate groups.
Two group homes are combined with each other and connected to the central structure by a portico, while the fifth group house is in conjunction with the central structure
through an entrance hall. From the entrance hall a staircase gives acces to a lower enclosed game room, oriented to the garden. A second game room, covered but open
connects directly to the central structure. The common dining hall, which can easily be refurnished as a ballroom or for smaller events, theater and film, is also accessible
from the entrance hall. The building by Werner Frey is considerd to be very efficient in relation to the space expense, allowing a relatively large garden and playground area.
Since the buildings were erected along the Rötelstrasse, the garden area is well exposed to the sun, sheltered from the wind and shielded from the street noise.
In the late 60s Werner Frey built an extension on the northwest side of the parcel, which follows the urban layout. In the years 2005 - 2008 the ensemble
was rehabilitated by the architectural office Neff Neumann.
The sloping terrain, facing southwest, halfway above the Limmat river and the industrial district, was used to be a preferred residential area.
Since the buildings of the property were built at that time for other purposes, they could not fully meet the requirements of a youth center.
It was therefore intended from the very beginning, to replace the house with a new building. A first project, arisen during wartime,
was shelved as a job creation scheme for the postwar period. But instead, the new building was postponed indefinitely due to the critical situation
on the construction market and the lack of labor force in the post-war period.
In the meantime, a new home and institution type had been developed which tried to transfer the conditions in the natural family to the homes and institutions,
calling for living in so-called family groups. The Zurich City Council therefore came to the conclusion that only a new project would be able to cope with
the needs of the modern pedagogical principles. The family group system should facilitate the reintegration of childrend and adolescent into the natural family.
One family group consisted usually of no more than 10 to 15 children of various ages and sexes and an educationally gifted couple. Center of the family group
should be the substitute parents. Spatially, the family group should be accommodated in a private house, a gazebo or an enclosed flat. For homes with several
family groups a complete separation of the groups should be guaranteed.
The youth home "Erika", built by Werner Frey served usually as a temporary admission of children of both sexes and school age, only in exceptional cases
a lasting accomodation of children was made. The size of the youth center has been configured for five groups of 10 to 11 children who were cared for
by five home managers and a caretaker couple. This principle corresponds to the structural layout of the facility. The central building contains the apartment of
the managers, rooms for auxiliary personnel, public spaces, while the five single-family homes for the groups are connected to the central building.
Because of its size and shape, the extraordinarily beautiful trees worth of preservation the available parcel and the selected pavillon solution
were of very limited scope. A very concentrated single family house type had to be found, which also had to fulfill the requirement that the bedrooms
were turned away from the busy Rötelstrasse. The core of these house is the living room with three levels, which give access to the children's room and adjoining rooms.
It was ensured that the supervisor, regardless of its location in the house, was awarded good visual and acoustic connection to the other rooms.
By structuring the living space into different levels the children were given the opportunity to come together in small groups.
Breakfast and dinner were served within the group, while the lunch was served in the dining hall of the central building. All three meals were prepared in the central kitchen.
In the group homes has been established a small kitchen for snacks and nursing. In front of the living room a patio gives the possibility of staying outdoors in seperate groups.
Two group homes are combined with each other and connected to the central structure by a portico, while the fifth group house is in conjunction with the central structure
through an entrance hall. From the entrance hall a staircase gives acces to a lower enclosed game room, oriented to the garden. A second game room, covered but open
connects directly to the central structure. The common dining hall, which can easily be refurnished as a ballroom or for smaller events, theater and film, is also accessible
from the entrance hall. The building by Werner Frey is considerd to be very efficient in relation to the space expense, allowing a relatively large garden and playground area.
Since the buildings were erected along the Rötelstrasse, the garden area is well exposed to the sun, sheltered from the wind and shielded from the street noise.
In the late 60s Werner Frey built an extension on the northwest side of the parcel, which follows the urban layout. In the years 2005 - 2008 the ensemble
was rehabilitated by the architectural office Neff Neumann.