Unobstructed outside view

The new building on Bahnhofplatz in the Swiss town of Winterthur is immediately noticeable. The slanting roof and the large window over the entrance to the shopping mall – which opened in the summer of 2013 – are very eye catching.

The new complex offers space for 69 apartments, offices, a gymnasium, a doctor’s office, a crèche and 200 parking spaces in the basement. The big attraction of the Archhöfe building is the new 11,000 square meter City Mall with 35 stores on three levels. Connected by elevators and escalators, each of the three levels is aimed at a different target audience. The fashion shops on the first floor, for instance, attract a younger clientele, whilst those on the second floor are aimed at families and sports enthusiasts.

From the inside, the mall offers views of the railway station and the old town. Daylight floods in through windows and skylights. The stores also contribute to the light and airy ambience through glass shopfronts with a mix of fixed and sliding elements.

Up to one half of the shopfronts consist of sliding elements, all of which are equipped with the Hawa Variotec 150/GV. The hardware was chosen by metalworking company Blaser AG who installed the shopfronts. “We have made exclusive use of hardware from Hawa for many years”, says managing director Heier Blaser, “the products have a high quality and simple functionality. After all, the sliding elements are not operated by technical experts and therefore need to be simple to use and run smoothly.”