Switzerland’s largest construction site has been transformed into a new district at Zurich Airport. Two hotels with a congress centre, numerous shops and restaurants, headquarters for international companies and premises for medical services are increasingly turning the airport into a complete urban centre. At the Circle, companies benefit from a superbly developed location at the interface between the city and the great wide world – and one that enjoys excellent transport links.

The Circle and adjacent park are directly linked to the airport terminals and also offer a quality external ambience and a quality address that is one-of-a-kind at any airport in the world. The range of uses at the Circle are an ideal complement to the existing offering at Zurich Airport. The Circle will be a venue for work, shop and spend time, a venue for medical services, congresses, events and, with the two Hyatt Hotels, a venue for people from the vicinity, for tourists and business travellers. The culinary offering at the Circle and the adjacent park also enhance the new district at Zurich Airport.

Andreas Schmid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Flughafen Zürich AG: “The decision to implement this project was a bold step by both co-owners. Today, we can reap the rewards. In the early development stage, we allowed ourselves plenty of time to select the right concept. The prudent definition of the usage mix and the positioning – and, building on that, the architecture competition – took several years and have contributed to our success in keeping the construction costs under control while ensuring almost full occupancy at the time of the inauguration. I am unbelievably proud to be able to open the Circle today together with our co-owner, Swiss Life.”

Rolf Dörig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Life, adds: “The Circle is in every respect a future-oriented construction: concentrated, sustainable building at the right location, and a modern usage concept geared to the needs of today’s and future generations. Enormous thanks are due to the many building specialists and tradespeople involved: they have achieved something amazing – and, especially in the final stage, have had to work under very challenging conditions.”

Shops and gastronomy
At the main square and in the lanes there is a Jelmoli Lifestyle House and Sports House, an immersive Omega brand boutique, as well as interesting concepts from Anecdote by Dufry, Läderach Chocolatier Suisse, Sapori d’Italia and DLUX Hair. Pop-up stores featuring the Zurich-based cosmetics label Soeder and the Swiss e-bike manufacturer Stromer round out the offering. 
The gastronomic offering at the Circle is also impressive: from the cosmopolitan rooftop restaurant Sablier with a view of the park to Leon’s Loft at the main square with feel-good food from early until late. Guests at the Circle can also enjoy the street food-inspired bowl concept at Rice Up! and the restaurant l’Oro di Napoli with Italian wood oven-baked pizza. Also both Hyatt hotels offer a wide variety of restaurants and bars, for instance Restaurant Babel where one can enjoy the unexpected flavors from the Middle East.

Gradual opening
The University Hospital has been welcoming patients in its new outpatient health centre, USZ Airport, since October. At the same time, the first shop – the Victoria pharmacy – opened at the Circle. The Neuroth Hörcenter completes the health-related range of services.

More new offerings will be added in the next few weeks and months, and new tenants will move in. During November, Avec and Bayard Co Ltd will open their stores at the Circle. The Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Convention Hall, which can accommodate 2,500 people, will open in December 2020. In spring 2021, the Hyatt Place Hotel and the natural cosmetics concept Cermony Suisse will follow.

Office tenants are moving into their new premises too. Employees of Flughafen Zürich AG, Isolutions and Totemo are already on site. By the end of the year, Raiffeisen, Abraxas, Lunge Zürich and Inventx will move into their spaces and the Globegarden childcare centre, a Kieser Training fitness centre and the staff restaurant Chreis 14 will open. Further office tenants, including Horváth & Partners, Microsoft, Edelweiss, MSD, Novo Nordisk, SAP and Oracle, will move in during 2021. Co-Working Spaces will also open next year.

Stefan Feldmann, Head of The Circle at Flughafen Zürich AG: “We realise that we are opening the Circle in a challenging time. However, we are very pleased to receive guests at the Circle from today – naturally with the necessary precautionary measures. Over the next few months, we will continue to optimise and develop the Circle's content and appearance to make it a vibrant place for our guests, tenants, employees, visitors and passengers.”

An overview of all shops and restaurants which are opening today, opening hours and additional information are available online: www.flughafen-zuerich.ch/circle.

You can find current picture material here (enter “Circle” in the search window): www.brand.zrh.ch/medi