Behind the facades of a neighborhood worth living in
With a completion value of 112.5 million, the five Seraina Investment Foundation houses on the 96,000 square metre site of the Glasi quarter remain one of the largest projects in the investment group's portfolio. The figures for the ‘Glasi’ are impressive. But how do you measure its quality of life? We take a look behind the facades for our investors.
Expensive designer furnishings, proximity to nature and a daycare center or the moment you are woken up by the sun in the morning: What makes a home worth living in is as varied as the residents themselves. And yet the developers at Seraina Invest want to know exactly. After all, the needs of today are the basis for the neighborhood design of tomorrow.
Our study object: the Glasi neighborhood in Bülach, completed in summer 2022. Almost two years later, it's not just pure life that has moved in. Some habits and wishes have also been consolidated.
Our first port of call is the Tertianum residential and care center. After all, who should know more about enjoying life than those who have already spent a large part of their lives there?
We meet Tertianum Glasi Managing Director Michael Reinhardt for a chat. He naturally leads us to one of the inviting tables in the light-flooded, public bistro. ‘Is this your workplace?’ we want to know. In fact, the Tertianum manager spends a lot of time with the residents rather than in his office. ‘When I can listen to the joys and concerns of my guests and fulfil their everyday wishes, it makes my working day worth living,’ he says and laughs.
The residents of the Tertianum are affectionately referred to as ‘guests’. The former hotelier Michael Reinhardt thus continues the special service concept, which is otherwise only enjoyed by holiday guests, for people in everyday life. ‘What makes our hotel worth living in is that you can not only arrive carefree, but also make a new start in many ways: make new friends, explore new paths, learn a new hobby. Couples often experience a new quality of life: because we support one partner in their care and the other is given more freedom again. We want to make joie de vivre possible.’
Outside the window, a few cheerful guests stroll past with their walking frames. We also start our tour of the neighborhood. We soon meet the smallest and youngest Glasians. On playgrounds with wooden castles and sun sails, they take their first steps and begin what is later called a friendship for life.
One young mum is happy about the many other families here: ‘The various meeting places where my son meets other children his age are worth living at the Glasi. When he's happy, I feel good too.’
Friends Zippora (25) and Naomi (25) are already living independently, heading for Zippora's flat with shopping in their arms. They are also happy to take the time for a quick chat: ‘Worth living for: that's a big word! You can almost get philosophical about it,’ says Zippora and then continues pragmatically: ’A residential neighborhood has to be central for me, as I travel a lot by public transport. In that respect, the Glasi is perfect.’
But the neighborhood also has a big influence. ‘You can ruin a lot of things if you don't have friendly neighbors. Fortunately, that's not the case here. We are connected to our neighborhood via a chat and go to each other when someone needs something. We feel safe here. The fact that our beautiful 3.5-room flat is also affordable adds a great deal to our quality of life.’
The owners of the numerous commercial spaces that can be rented in the Glasi are also happy about the fair rents. ‘The price for my small shop is unbeatable,’ says Danny from Rohkost-Hüsli. This enabled her to fulfil her dream of a shop selling high-quality food and care products in the Glasi district. ‘What's still missing now is walk-in customers. The opening hours of the neighborhood shops are not yet coordinated. Some days I'm almost alone here.’
Pamela's hairdressing salon ‘House of Hairdreams’, on the other hand, is already very popular. A couple of times a week, she also perfects the look of Tertianum guests with her services. ‘I live in the center of Bülach myself. But I hear from my customers in the neighborhood that they feel very comfortable here. I myself like the diversity of the people who live here. The fact that you meet different cultures, age groups and lifestyles.’
‘A weekly market would be nice, an Italian restaurant where you can indulge in culinary delights in the evening, a pharmacy and a bus stop,’ are the wishes we hear time and again from residents. All of this would bring consistency and further life to the neighborhood.
The Investment Foundation knows that good neighborhood development takes time, which is why important criteria are already included in the planning stage: places to get to know each other, gardens to recharge your batteries, shops for inspiration and flexible flat sizes so that everyone can afford something. The prerequisite for this is that you always take a look behind the facades, into people's everyday lives.
On the short walk back to Bülach railway station, we meet another elderly couple: could they also imagine living in the Glasi? ‘No, we love our big house with its own garden, just outside the town. But we loved coming to the Glasi festival last summer and we also visited the lovely bar there a few times.’ So although they don't live there, the Glasi neighborhood has also made their everyday lives a little more liveable.
