Ground floor surfaces (re) used to best effect
THE CONVERSION OF SPACES LOCATED ON THE GROUND FLOOR IS A TOPIC IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT, NOW IN PARTICULAR WAY DUE TO CLOSURES AND CESSATIONS OF ACTIVITIES due to the PANDEMIC. HOW CAN COMMERCIAL SURFACES LOCATED IN CITY CENTERS or MUNICIPALITIES BE REVITALIZED? COWORKING COULD BE A SOLUTION? OR WOULD IT BE BETTER TO CREATE MORE ACCOMMODATION IN THE CENTER? AN OVERVIEW BELOW.
Spaces located on the ground floor in Swiss cities, in medium-sized centers or in smaller municipalities, unfortunately have a marked destiny – with the exception of those with coveted privileged locations. According to experts, there has been a clear change in the destination of this type of space, and not just after the recent pandemic. Where once there was a restaurant, cafe or hairdresser, butcher or owner-run fashion shop, today there is often a huge void.
What the research says
Nicole Hartmann, research assistant at the Institute of Interior Architecture (IIA) of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), is studying how to make the most of this particular space. With the «PARTERRE» project he examines – together with his colleagues Markus Gmünder, Christoph Hanisch and Katharina Kleczka – «how to best convert the spaces on the ground floor, but from the inside». According to Hartmann "the ground floors are important not only for the building but also for the urban space". However, due to the reorganization of retail businesses and the constant increase in the sale of products online, there have been major changes in the use of these ground floor spaces. According to Hartmann, however, changes in social and cultural values as well as changes in legal framework conditions also played a role. The project team highlighted some concrete examples, for example in the Portuguese city of Porto, where SMEs and start-ups have revitalized the downtown neighborhoods with original ideas and innovative solutions. Or in the city of Lucerne, where due to the absence of international tourists there has been a considerable increase in empty shops and vacant commercial spaces.
One solution: pop-up shops
The Pop-up-Shops company of founder and CEO Chalid A. El Ashker is interested in these vacant spaces. With its «Online Market», it offers space for rent in Baden, Brugg or Dietikon. The internet platform of the start-up, based in Zollikon, connects owners of commercial spaces or showrooms with interested parties who want to rent a space for a fixed term. The contracts and rent payments of these pop-up shops are also handled online. The interest groups are on the one hand the owners of spaces and on the other hand the new brands, companies, designers or artists who need a space to exhibit their products. “No matter what kind of space, we optimize the leasing process,” says El Ashker, whose business idea doesn't stop at the Swiss borders. There are also international commercial spaces, such as in Germany, the United Kingdom or the United States, many of which are located on the ground floor.
no land of a building. According to El Ashker, the platform offers several advantages in one: it increases the availability of space for shops and promotes the local economy by supporting both new and emerging businesses without forgetting those already established. In Switzerland, Pop-up Shops counts SBB, Swiss Post, Migros, SPG Intercity and Wincasa among its customers.
Flexible office spaces close to your home
Empty commercial spaces on the ground floor, in Swiss municipalities and cities, can be converted into offices as well as retail stores, depending on the administration and planning regulations. One of the recent "Coworking Spaces" was opened by Village Office, a company that wants to create several hundred coworking spaces throughout Switzerland. There are currently more than 80, located in Aarau, Bottighofen, Frauenfeld, Lucerne, Laax, Nyon and Davos, to name a few.
Conceived and founded as cooperatives, they aim to promote new forms of work and to build an entire network of "Coworking Spaces". “At the same time we are also creating links between communities, companies, property owners and coworkers,” says Jenny Schäpper-Uster, who in 2015 and 2016 co-founded the new type of company Coworking Switzerland and Village Offices. “Our vision is that every person in Switzerland by 2030 will be able to reach the nearest 'Coworking Space' in 15 minutes. In this way, we reduce the impact on transport, increase the creation of local value and contribute to improving the quality of life of people thanks to shorter work paths ».
"Revitalizing city centers"
Nicole Hartmann, HSLU interior architect, proposes another solution to reconvert ground floor spaces into urban areas: create housing. “Depending on the existing floor plans, the heights of the rooms, the facades, the fixtures and the types of space, the goal should be to revitalize urban centers,” he explains. It would also mean making cities attractive and liveable again for new residents. In Switzerland there has been a displacement of people in the more modern and modern suburbs. "We could begin to think about a redefinition of public areas and launch a new trend, revitalizing many city centers". Hartmann is convinced of this.
This is one of the themes studied in the "PARTERRE" project, as well as the
the finding that a change in the destination of a space can affect the quality of life of the local inhabitants, and how public and private spaces could be designed and shared. “The project considers the interaction of various stakeholders and develops a sustainable conversion strategy for the vacant ground floors,” says Hartmann. We can look forward to the results of the project right now.
Baden – a model city
With over 19,000 inhabitants, Baden is the third largest municipality in the canton of Aargau and is one of the top 5 Swiss economic regions among the 110 existing ones. It is home to around 2,500 companies, many of them international. Thanks to its connections with local and long-distance transport networks
room and the remoteness of only about 20 kilometers from Zurich, the capital of the Canton of Aargau and the city of Waldshut-Tiengen in Germany, is a regional business center and also a popular place to live.
It is no wonder that developer Thomas Lütolf talks about a very low vacancy rate among the shops in the city center: "only three of the 220 spaces are currently empty". This means that the vacancy of the ground floors in the city has recorded the lowest rate in the last six years – and this despite the pandemic from Covid-19. There is also a growing trend in the occupation of spaces vacated by the retail trade by restaurants and gastronomy. Among the retail stores, even some with new concepts and others already tested. One example is Ohne.ch at Stadtturmstrasse 15, which offers fair and sustainable food without packaging. Or the chain of prestigious and very famous Sprüngli patisseries, which has opened a store in the train station of Baden.
And when it comes to pop-up shops, Lütolf sees more opportunities than risks: "Pop-up shops are not unknown in Baden". According to him, this trend will continue in the long term and, thanks to the city's active art and cultural scene, he will be able to quickly and easily occupy free spaces. Only in terms of rent levels does it see a slight downward trend. "But this in turn makes it attractive to other supplier groups in this segment," says Lütolf.
