Noelle Haffter

In the heart of Zürich old town, an odd corner building stands proud as a ‘Störfaktor’ on the emblematic Limmatquai streetscape. Once a shoe store, now home to a constellation of shops and uses you would not quite expect at this location: a sex shop, a table dance bar, a rendez-vous hotel. The building — in fact an ensemble of different buildings — went through multiple makeovers since it was built in 1968. Its current appearance is characterised by white facade panels that act as a shiny concealer — a kind of make-up, if you wish — to tuck away the presences inside. This master thesis departs from the premise that these uses belong in the city centre, and decides to maintain the building’s stylistic disturbance. An extension up to 7 floors gives it a clear presence in the streetscape, while making space to elaborate its current programmes. Special attention is given to the circulation, allowing for unexpected encounters and co-existences, while keeping discreet where needed. The building is opened up strategically, and a tactile use of material generates a new and more open architectural language that aims to dismantle the cliché that sex work infrastructures are always dark, dirty or grim.