The Herdern site in Zürich is a remnant of the city's industrial era. Guided by gentrification, factories and large-scale buildings have gradually been converted into offices, housing, restaurants, etc. But in this effort to turn city into an attractive living and working environment, we have also driven the industry out of the city. Productive areas disappear into the outskirts of the city or to low-wage countries. The city is turning into a place of consumption, without production.

The project proposes to set up a distillery and a soup factory to safeguard the last production areas in Zürich west. By improving the capacity of a Mero roof on the site, the architectural intervention allows this structure to relax its potential while inheriting the richness of its past. By cleverly taking advantage of the wholesale market next to the roof, all the unsold fruits and vegetables can be processed directly on the site.

The project is intended to be didactic and transparent, with each step visible from the street. The 200m long roof becomes an industrial showcase where every moment of the fruits and vegetables' enrichment becomes a visual and olfactory experience.
The play of materiality and form in the façade recalls the industrial language of the surroundings while welcoming the future programmatic diversity of the site.