Shortly after its completion, the ETH House of Natural Resources on the Hönggerberg campus in Zurich received two prestigious awards: the Innovation Award of the Schweighofer Prize and the Hardwood Award of the Prix Lignum.
For Häring, these honours represent not only a significant achievement but also recognition of the practical viability of its prestressed structural system.
A classic wooden toy with an internal spring mechanism perfectly illustrates the principle behind prestressed frame structures. Thanks to the concealed strings and spring tension inside the toy, the figure assembled from multiple wooden elements - always returns to its original shape after being compressed.
The structural framework of the ETH House of Natural Resources follows the same principle. It consists of a coarse structural skeleton made from locally sourced glued laminated timber. Ash columns, spaced at intervals of 6.5 metres, are connected by spruce beams reinforced with ash. Like the wooden toy, the structure is stabilised through prestressing and is designed to return to its original geometry after an earthquake.
Instead of strings, the building incorporates internal prestressing cables carrying a tensile force of 70 tonnes.
Häring developed this pioneering structural system in close collaboration with ETH Zurich and supported the associated research both financially and through the provision of engineering expertise and materials. The building became operational in June 2015.
