The digitally designed "Crocodile", Winterthur
2019
Where the first electric Gotthard locomotives were once built, one of Switzerland’s largest wooden buildings now stands. The building and the locomotive have one thing in common: they are pioneers in their respective fields.
The Project
The “Krokodil” building, a 6- to 8-story wooden structure, is the first phase of the Lokstadt development. With over 250 apartments and approximately 30,000 square meters of usable space, it is one of the largest of its kind. In November 2020, the first tenants moved into their apartments. The “Krokodil” was built in record time. Construction began in May 2018, and just 16 months later, the apartments were already occupied. This record-breaking construction timeline required meticulous planning. To achieve this, the BIM planning method was consistently applied starting from the preliminary design phase. This means that the architects, together with the engineers and technicians, create a digital model of the building, complete with a wealth of additional information. This allows errors to be identified as early as the planning phase and corrected without incurring high costs.
The Construction Method
Communication between teams from a wide variety of industries is a major challenge. “BIM Issue Management” ensures that pipes and cables do not interfere with each other and only penetrate walls and ceilings where this does not affect the building’s structural integrity. For the “Krokodil” project, the planning team relied on the BIMcollab Cloud platform. This platform simplifies issue management and enables the structured storage, exchange, and resolution of issues.
The Challenge
Coordinating between models and managing BIM issues takes up unnecessary time, and every interface is a potential source of error. If all planning teams worked in the same model, communication would be significantly easier. So-called “closed BIM” planning is still a distant dream for the construction industry today.
Construction Data
- 248 apartments
- 5,500 m 3 CLT panels
- 1,500 m 3 glued laminated timber
- 700 m 3 framing lumber
- Exterior wall 320 mm. Ventilated and with interior utility shell
- 220 mm CLT ceilings with a 100 mm gravel fill
- 19 meters in length
Construction costs
- BKP 214 16'500'000 CHF
Services of Timbatec
- SIA Phase 31 Preliminary Design
- SIA Phase 32 Construction Project
- SIA Phase 41 Tendering and Bid Comparison
- SIA Phase 51 Construction design
- SIA Phase 52 Construction
- SIA Phase 53 Commissioning
- Structural Analysis and Design
- Fire protection design
- Fire Protection Quality Assurance QSS2
- Technical construction management and site inspections
Architect
Baumberger & Stegmeier AG
8004 Zurich
Timber Construction Engineer
Timbatec Timber Construction Engineers (Switzerland) AG Zurich
8005 Zurich
Timber Construction
Implenia Switzerland AG Rümlang
8153 Rümlang
General Contractor/General Contractor
Implenia Switzerland AG
8152 Opfikon
Photography
zimmermannfotografie
8038 Zurich
Staircases: Wood before concrete
Baukader, Issue No. 09/2023 – In large timber construction projects, builders often concrete staircases when not much is visible on the construction site except the basement. Carpenters assemble the prefabricated timber components to them. Timbatec has reversed this sequence, with success.(Report in German, French and Italian)
First chapter Lokstadt: angular crocodile made of wood
Konstruktiver Ingenieurbau, Issue No. 04/2022 – Where locomotives and machines used to be built in Winterthur, a new district is being created: Lokstadt. The first building is called «Crocodile» and is one of the largest wooden buildings in Switzerland. The timber frame building was planned with BIM from the very beginning. But that's not the only thing that makes the mega residential building a pilot project. (Report in German)
Recognition for WTK Rynetel and the "Krokodil"
Themenheft von Hochparterre, Issue Oktober 2021 – We are particularly pleased about the recognition for the Rynetel Wildlife Bridge and "Krokodil" projects. As timber engineers, we were able to play a decisive role in shaping these projects. (Report in German)
First chapter Lokstadt
Mikado, Issue 07.2021 – A new district is being built in Winterthur: Lokstadt. The first building is called the «Krokodil» and is one of the largest wooden buildings in Switzerland. www.mikado-online.de (Report in German)
Wooden building «Krocodil» reminds of former use of «Lokstadt»
Holz-Zentralblatt, Issue No. 25 – Winterthur is home to a giant «Krokodil». It is a structure on the site of Winterthur's «Lokstadt» and bears its name in memory of the SBB locomotives that were built here until 2010. Traces of the former industrial use are present, but the new one presents itself confidently and with a supporting structure made of wood that is barely visible from the outside. (Report in German)
Wooden beat and industrial melody
Hochparterre, Issue No. 5/21 – The residential development «Krokodil» densifies the Sulzer site in Winterthur with industrial references. Wood provides the structure, but remains in the background. (Report in German)
Is timber construction really more expensive than solid construction?
Hauseigentümer, Issue No. 4/2021 – How does large-scale timber construction compare economically with solid construction? The consulting firm Wüest Partner AG has evaluated eight major new timber construction projects in recent years and concluded that the construction costs of the timber buildings studied are comparable to those of high-quality solid buildings. (Report in German)
No fear of giant apartment blocks
NZZ, Issue No. 286/2020 – The "Krokodil" residential development on the Sulzer site in Winterthur sets new standards for timber construction. Read more about the 6- to 8-story wooden building with 254 apartments in today's edition of the NZZ. (Report in german)
House Crocodile - Lokstadt, Winterthur
Espazium, Stadt aus Holz, Issue No. 6/2020 - Where locomotives and machines used to be built, a new district is now being developed. An urban living and working space for more than1'500 people is being created right next to the railway station. Timbatec is responsible for the wood engineering for the first building of the new district. (Report in german)
Digitally planned and computer-controlled production: «Crocodile» residential building in Winterthur
Zuschnitt, Issue No. 78/2020 - In the Lokstadt in Winterthur, a pioneering residential building, the so-called "Crocodile", is being built. In the former factory premises of the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory, close to the city center, converted industrial halls will be supplemented by a series of new buildings until around 2027. The "Crocodile" - named after the legendary electric locomotive used on the Gotthard mountain route - is currently one of the largest wooden buildings in Switzerland. (Report in german)
Growing with BIM
First, Issue No. 3/20 – The house "Crocodile" on the Lokstadt site in Winterthur has a skeleton of wood and a skin of stone and metal. Right from the start, the gigantic courtyard house was planned down to the millimeter. The BIM planning provides the first insights. (Report in German)
Encounter with the «Crocodile»
Wir Holzbauer, January 2020 - The delegates of Lignum met in November in the Winterthur Technopark. There the long-standing Lignum director Christoph Starck was bid farewell with great applause. Hans Rupli informed about the transformation process of Lignum. Following the meeting, the delegates took a look at the timber construction project "Crocodile" in the Lokstadt area Winterthur. (German)
Closing the chain
Hochparterre, January 2020 - In the Crocodile development in Winterthur, BIM helped to make the advantages of wood visible in the competition to do. However, the method does not yet work consistently. Timbatec is committed to ensuring that timber construction has even more advantages in the future thanks to digital planning. In the report "Closing the chain" you can read about the challenges facing the industry. (German and French)
High-rise buildings and quarters made of wood
Holzzentralblatt, January 2020 - Within the framework of the 25th "International Timber Construction Forum (IHF)" in Innsbruck from 4 to 6 December 2019, extraordinary high-rise and two housing development projects were presented: The major projects from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden, which were presented in the lecture block "Large Volume Buildings", provided ideas for planning construction projects of completely new dimensions in timber. In this context, Andreas Burgherr presented the "Crocodile" house in Winterthur with over 250 apartments. (German)
Ein Krokodil in Winterthur (Alemand)
Baukader Schweiz, Novembre 2019 - Implenia Schweiz AG is building a new district in Winterthur: "The Lokstadt". One of the largest wooden buildings of the Switzerland is here under construction. The 30-metre-high building with over 250 apartments called "The Crocodile". Timbatec is the timber engineering of this flagship project. The magazine Baukader Schweiz has chosen the crocodile as construction site of the month. Our project manager Silvan Stierli guided journalist Flurina Schenk through the construction site and explained the project.
Self-managed housing
Bau & Architektur, 9.18 - Winterthur Genossenschaft für selbstverwaltetes Wohnen (Gesewo) is realizing around 80 apartments and flexible commercial space on the first floor in Haus Krokodil, the first building of the new Lokstadt. Lokstadt, a project by Implenia, is to become an actual new district in the middle of Winterthur over the next few years. Around 100 interested parties have come together under the umbrella of Gesewo. As future residents, they are accompanying the development of the building project and, in parallel, developing their house community, organization and self-management. In the case of the Krokodil house, which is being built largely of wood, Timbatec is responsible, among other things, for the statics of the wooden structure.
House Crocodile
Schweizer Holzrevue, 7/8/2018 - In July 2018, Implenia laid the foundation stone at Dialogplatz in Winterthur for Haus Krokodil, a sustainable timber building with over 250 apartments. Timbatec is responsible for the design and structural engineering of the timber structure in the project. Haus Krokodil is part of the Lokstadt development in the middle of Eulachstadt. Like the entire Lokstadt, it is designed in accordance with the goals of the 2000-watt society and is largely made of wood from the first floor upwards. Compared with conventional solid construction, the timber construction method saves so-called gray energy, emphasizes the trade journal. The article in the Schweizer Holzrevue not only describes the project itself, but also the general advantages of living in a wooden building.
Lokstadt: How a new district is being created with the help of BIM
Baublatt 42/2017 - Digitisation is on everyone's lips. And she's already in in the construction industry. Also at the locomotive city in Winterthur, a Implenia's new major timber project, in which Timbatec is playing a key role. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a topic. Like BIM for project was the subject of an event organised by the Swiss Association of Consulting Engineering Companies. That Baublatt visited the event and describes in an article how Implenia in the Lokstadt project on BIM as a model-based working method for control of the entire construction process. From planning to the construction phase up to the operational process, all of them are working on this major project. project participants during the entire process with BIM. Advantages are under that any planning and execution errors are recognized at an early stage, and which leads to higher planning, deadline and cost security. lead.
