Research, teaching, and practice are directly interlinked, with the aim of testing research findings within the project itself and making a tangible contribution to the fields of construction in existing buildings and adaptive reuse. These insights are intended to be transferable to other projects and buildings.
The LLHIL was initiated by Professor Matthias Kohler in the Department of Architecture and Hannes Pichler, Director of Real Estate Management at ETH Zurich, with the involvement of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering D-BAUG. The project is coordinated and developed by the internal LLHIL planning team.
EVENTS & NEWS
Why is everyone looking up?
Our project office becomes a space for learning and investigation for students from the courses “Master of Integrated Building Systems I and II”.
Opening the Façade, Upgrading the Glazing
Diese Woche haben wir die hermetische Hülle des HIL geöffnet, um auf Ebene C eine temporäre Tür für den Makerspace einzubauen.
Hilti supports the Living Lab HIL
The Hilti Group, based in Liechtenstein, will support LLHIL as a funding partner from 2026 to 2028.
INPUT PROJECTS
The HIL building project will serve research and teaching purposes over a period of three years. It aims to develop new approaches to planning, construction, and use, by leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration between ETH professors and their students and researchers, as well as with specialist departments at ETH and partners from the construction industry.
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2026Gilded Glass
Coated solar-control glass is a defining feature of post-war modernism, yet is increasingly disappearing. This thesis from the MAS ETH in Built Heritage and Repair highlights the architectural and ecological value of solar-control glass and explores strategies for its preservation.
Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg -
2026HIL Future Soundscapes
A web-based acoustic design tool that enables the early integration of sound in architecture by allowing designers to simulate and listen to contextualized soundscapes within the HIL building.
Prof. Fabio Gramazio, Prof. Matthias Kohler -
2026Form to Force
The Digital Structural Twin is being used to develop a digital interface between the architectural and structural models. This interface can be used to perform static analyses of different variants (e.g. for the extension of the HIL) very quickly and in a workflow-based manner.
Prof. Andreas Taras -
2026Translucent and lightweight
With Hollow-Core 3D Printing (HC3DP), translucent, lightweight, and insulating elements made from recycled polymers can be produced. These components open up new structural, energy-related, and aesthetic possibilities for architectural applications.
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Dillenburger -
2025700 Perspectives on HIL
At the beginning of the Autumn Semester 2025, around 700 architecture students spent a day exploring the HIL building through drawing. The resulting works mark the beginning of an engagement with the future of HIL developed from within the department.
Prof. Roger Boltshauser, Prof. Adrien Comte, Prof. Jan De Vylder, Prof. Momoyo Kaijima, Prof. Débora Mesa Molina, Prof. Adrien Meuwly -
202680 Mock-ups made from Reclaimed Material
At the start of the semester, a workshop took place as part of Studio Foundations, bringing together 350 students, craftspeople, and supervisors in the HIL underground car park. Over the course of three days, this unremarkable parking area was transformed into a bustling construction hall where participants designed, built, and exhibited together.
Prof. Dr. Philippe Block, Prof. Roger Boltshauser, Prof. Dr. Maarten Delbeke, Prof. Fabio Gramazio, Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Pauli, Prof. Dr. Arno Schlüter, Prof. Martina Voser
