Zurich's emergency care is being turned upside down
In an emergency, every minute counts: fire and rescue services must arrive at the scene of the emergency within ten minutes of being called out. But according to Zurich's city council, this requirement can already no longer be met in full throughout the city.
With the population in the city of Zurich forecast to grow from around 415,000 today to over 490,000 by 2030, a strategic site expansion for the fire and rescue service will be essential, according to Zurich City Council. As an important cornerstone of the site strategy, the new North Station with integrated Central Emergency Logistics (ZEL) is therefore to be built on the Binzmühlestrasse site - in the immediate vicinity of the EWZ substation in Oerlikon - to efficiently supply all Schutz & Rettung Zürich (SRZ) sites with materials and logistics services.
The competition was won by the "Mazinga" project by Enzmann Fischer Partner AG and Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG from Zurich. The jury was convinced by the optimally organized spatial program and the consistent arrangement of the areas for the emergency personnel around the central training hall.
2024 operational
Total costs of 60 million Swiss francs are expected. Taking into account the value of the land, the remediation of contaminated sites, the construction of a traffic light system and the credit reserves, an object credit of 84 million francs is expected. According to the information, the North Station is to be put into operation in 2024. Before that, the project must be submitted to the legislature and the electorate.
New decentralized guards in the longer term
The "Location Strategy Protection & Rescue" envisages that in fifteen to twenty years, SRZ will operate with three new decentralized guards in the north, east and west in addition to the existing guards south, center (Neumühlequai) and airport. All of the stations would be staffed with units from the professional fire and rescue service so that rescue, firefighting and treatment could be provided. Only in the guardhouse center should be stationed for space reasons exclusively the rescue service, it says in the city council communication further.
