A campus for the psychiatry of tomorrow for 330 million
For over 150 years, the Burghölzli in Zurich has stood for top-quality psychiatric care. Now the Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich (PUK) is planning its biggest new building project to date. Modern new buildings are being constructed at the Lengg site at a cost of around 330 million Swiss francs. It will be around ten years before the first patients move in.
Exterior view of new buildings at the Lengg site. Visualization: © Boltshauser Architekten AG, subject to change. Source: University Psychiatric Hospital Zurich (PUK).
Today, the PUK operates inpatient services at six locations spread across the canton. This costs resources, creates duplication and makes cooperation more difficult. In future, three locations will suffice. The core of this strategy is the Lengg site in the east of the city of Zurich.
Modern architecture instead of old buildings
The selected project envisages two new buildings in the Lengg Ost area on Karl-Stauffer-Strasse. The buildings have an open design, are generously lit and are geared towards today’s requirements for modern psychiatry. Child and adolescent psychiatry, adult psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry are brought together here under one roof. What has been eliminated is the cramped space and functional obsolescence of the existing structures.
The heritage will be preserved
The historic fabric of the main building will not be demolished. Large parts of the listed ensemble will remain and be used for offices, administration and non-stationary services. The project thus combines structural continuity with a clear reorientation.
Rheinau is moving faster
A second construction project is running in parallel on the PUK site in Rheinau. A new building for forensic psychiatry with 39 medium-security beds is being built there. Construction is due to start at the beginning of 2027, with commissioning planned for fall 2029. The public tender for general contractors is already underway, with a submission deadline of July 2026.
A long road, a clear goal
Patience is needed at Lengg. The first new buildings will not be ready for occupation until the mid-2030s at the earliest, and the full implementation of all stages will take until the 2040s. The cost estimate of CHF 320 million is subject to a fluctuation margin of 25 percent. Added to this are the costs for the renovation of the existing buildings. This is no small matter. For the PUK, it is nevertheless the right step away from a fragmented system and towards a modern, efficient supply structure that will still be viable in twenty years’ time.