The ZSC Lions are getting their long-awaited home base with the Swiss Life Arena. Their new home in Zurich Altstetten is more than just a hockey stadium – it is the most modern sport and event arena in Switzerland. It seats 12,000 people in an area of 28,000 square metres. And the signage is just as impressive as the arena itself.
In cooperation with Swiss Life, HSR Real Estate AG and the agency Bivgrafik GmbH, the technical planning and implementation of all 3D elements both indoors and out required all of our expertise.
The four illuminated logos on the external facade have a distinctive recognition value. At 17 metres long and 7 metres tall, they are not only the largest in the whole of Zurich, their floating look is also unique. At their deepest point, they are 1.5 metres away from the wavy concrete facade. Each acrylic glass letter was installed individually with several supports, so that no cross-connections are visible. Drilling the 8 cm-wide holes for the steel pipe supports of various lengths, each weighing around 30 kilograms, required work of the highest precision. We also had to calculate the effect of the wind load, as the logos are suspended 22 metres up.
The interior of the Swiss Life Arena also boasts plenty of superlatives. The video cube in the centre of the arena is the biggest of its kind in Europe. Four illuminated logos complete its appearance. The logos are 8 metres long, are adapted to the angle and curvature of the screens, and float above the magnificent cube.
The challenge of installing the signage elements was not only due to the uniqueness of the facade logos – we have never had to deal with such large distances – but also their complexity. Labelling 1,600 rows of seats, working on the Skyworker – our fitters performed focused manual work and also technically challenging intellectual work. All in all, we realized around one hundred 3D elements for the Swiss Life Arena. These include illuminated signs, metal objects and lettering, as well as film lettering both inside and outside – from directional signs to sector labelling to the logo on the sponsorship wall.
We are all the more proud of the result, which reinforces our claim: Richnerstutz. Consider it done.
Illuminated logos and floating lettering above the video cube.
Richnerstutz working for the Swiss Life Arena
“We realized around 100 3D signage elements inside and outside.”
