2025
What we’re buildingDear Customer,
Better products come from better information. In 2025, we are refining our plot assessments to create more value for sellers and smarter decisions for buyers. Every assessment is designed to maximize potential, reduce risk, and deliver clarity. We don’t just provide data—we provide insights that drive better decisions.
Cost is the foundation of good design. Cost isn’t a constraint—it’s the foundation of every great decision. We design with cost in mind from the start, ensuring efficiency, clarity, and long-term value. Our process favors bold, simple choices that remove complexity and strengthen design. The result? A faster, smarter, and more precise evaluation of every plot’s potential. We help sellers present their plots with a clear, strong assessment that highlights strategic value and attracts serious buyers. For buyers, this means knowing exactly what they’re investing in—no hidden risks, no uncertainty.
Mastering the fundamentals—no fancy stuff. Great products aren’t built on trends; they’re built on timeless principles. We focus on what doesn’t change—smart strategy, real numbers, and clear assessments. Complexity is a distraction. By stripping away the unnecessary, we create sharper, more valuable insights that help buyers and sellers make decisive, informed choices. We refine our assessments continuously, improving our process with every project. Every test sharpens our system. If something doesn’t work, we learn why and adjust. If it does, we improve and scale.
Ownership Mentality—Treating Every Plot as Our Own. We don’t just analyze plots—we think like investors. Every decision is approached as if it were our own land, our own capital, our own responsibility. We focus on the details that create real value—not vague reports or abstract analysis. A strong assessment isn’t just numbers; it’s a roadmap to better decisions. For buyers, this means a well-supported case for why a plot is a good investment (or why it isn’t). For sellers, it means positioning their property as an opportunity, not just a listing. We don’t waste time on guesswork. Every report is clear, direct, and built to help you act with confidence.
What This Means for You. If you’re a buyer, you get a strategic, well-informed assessment—no surprises, no uncertainty. If you’re a seller, you get a strong, clear positioning that attracts serious buyers and maximizes your property’s value. If a decision needs to be made, our process ensures you have the right information at the right time.
Simplify,
zeroname.ch
Products
What we’ve planned and learned2001 Six Houses, Plomin-Istra, Croatia. We conducted a strategic feasibility study to determine the optimal development strategy for a 7,704 m² plot. Our analysis evaluated municipal regulations, uncovered risks and opportunities, and tested multiple design scenarios to identify the most efficient, value-driven solution for investors. The result was a clear proposal: subdivide the land into six smaller lots, each designated for an Istrian villa with a pool. With a purchase cost of €800,000, the projected resale value is €250,000 per empty plot—or €1.2 million per fully built villa.
The villas are designed for long-term durability and flexibility. Reinforced concrete provides a robust structure with minimal maintenance, while a solid foundation slab protects against water infiltration—reducing future upkeep costs. A prefabricated CLT (cross-laminated timber) system enables the replication of a perfected design across all plots, streamlining construction. By separating structural and functional elements, we future-proofed the villas, allowing for easy modifications over time. Material selection was carefully phased to avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure seamless execution on site.
Early communication with the municipality was key to avoiding delays, aligning expectations, and securing smooth approvals. We maintained full transparency with the seller, buyer, and city throughout the process to prevent costly surprises. The strategic planning phase is where a project’s direction is set, and flexibility preserved. Our core advice remains: never rush into obtaining a construction permit without a clear, refined vision. Success lies not just in knowing what can be built, but in knowing exactly what should be built—and why. That’s why we follow Swiss SIA 102 standards, ensuring long-term performance, low maintenance, and lasting value.
1010 Lerchenstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland. 243 Apartments. CHF 66 Million. One Big, Flexible Idea. Six floors. Ground-floor studios with street-facing potential—ideal for ateliers, offices, or shops. A shared garden to the south. A real estate model built for long-term value and short-term flexibility. At the core: one large house. Divisible later into four smaller, independent buildings. Each with ~60 apartments per vertical core—ready to rent, sell, or split between multiple investors. Modular, flexible, future-proof. It’s smart structure, optimized use, and the kind of adaptability that compounds value over time.
Principles That Make It Work:
1 Start with the grid. Get it right from day one. Spans of 370–460 cm unlock 400x400 cm rooms—the golden proportion for livable spaces.
2 Core = life. Everything starts from the vertical infrastructure. Combine bathrooms and kitchens to minimize shafts. Eliminate corridors. Access apartments directly from the core. Cores and apartments—that’s all a building needs.
3 No dark corners. All apartments are double-sided—preferably east-west or north-south. Anything else compromises light, and light is everything. Natural light and outdoor access aren’t luxuries. They’re the foundation of good living.
4 Always think of inside/outside.Architecture lives on the facade. The inside meets the outside—this is where homes are made. Plan apartments with the facade in mind, always.
Made at E2A Architekten (Zürich, Switzerland).
1009 Wankdorfcity3, Bern, Switzerland. A 23-story highrise. Eight floors of offices. 143 apartments. Shops and a kindergarten at street level. A shared garden on the eighth floor. All eight towers are closely positioned and connected by bridges. This makes planning and coordination essential—not just for design, but to ensure smooth construction later on.
To manage this complexity, we’ve developed a structured planning system. Each building follows shared design principles to increase efficiency, while still giving each team the freedom to express their own ideas. This balance keeps the whole district unified, but not uniform. We also use in-house digital tools that give us immediate feedback during the design process. And by drawing on data from past projects, we can estimate construction costs early—helping us and our clients make more informed decisions from the start.
We’re not just focused on design quality—we also focus on cost certainty. The total construction budget is clearly set at CHF 500 million, which means every choice must be accurate, cost-aware, and thought through in advance. The more we solve in planning, the smoother and more efficient the construction will be. In short: We build with creativity. We plan with precision. And we make sure every decision supports both vision—and budget.
Made at E2A Architekten (Zürich, Switzerland).
1008 Home One, Zürich, Switzerland. Buy Once. Live Well. A home isn't made from things. It's made from choices. A few good ones, made early, shape everything that follows. Start with the essentials—small in number, massive in impact. Choose furniture that’s built to last: solid wood, no plastic joints, no mixed materials. Let time give it character. Let patina deepen the feeling of home. Pick pieces with no expiration date—timeless, not trendy. Look for lifetime warranties. That’s not marketing—it means they can’t break, won’t fail, and don’t need replacing.
What should you get right? Just this: A great sofa - Hay Arbour. Six different lounge chairs - Rex Kralj, Carl Hansen 25, Santa&Cole Barcoloneta, Ercol Windsor. A big, low coffee table - Crate 3 Established&Sons. A kitchen table for six. Compact, low bookshelves. Open kitchen shelves. A tough kitchen island—made for knives, mess, and real life. A quality mattress. Santa & Cole lights—stick to this brand, always.
That’s it. Get these right, and your home will support you—through seasons, changes, and decades. They’ll be there when everything else changes. And every year, they’ll feel more like home.
1007 Solar House, Zrenj-Istra, Croatia. The renovation of a 1920s stone house in the village of Žnjidariči blends traditional Istrian architecture with modern, sustainable technology. The goal is simple and bold: to create an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly home that honors the past while embracing the future. High-performance polycrystalline solar panels will be installed on the south-facing roof, supplying all the energy needed to heat the home. The thick stone walls serve as a natural thermal battery—absorbing heat during the day and slowly releasing it at night. No conventional heating system is required.
Eco-friendly insulation materials will reduce energy loss and improve the building's overall efficiency. The roof and façade will be renovated to optimize solar gain while preserving the visual character of the original structure. A modular design approach ensures flexibility for future expansions or adaptations. Local materials will be used wherever possible, minimizing the environmental impact of construction. This project proves that sustainability, heritage, and innovation can coexist. It creates a home that respects tradition, performs efficiently, and stands ready for the challenges of tomorrow.
1006 Master plan, Ljubljana, Slovenia. The Litostroj masterplan is a bold urban vision for Ljubljana’s future—spanning 85 hectares just 8 km north of the city center. Designed to meet the needs of a growing population, it balances scale with sustainability, and ambition with livability. At its core: housing. Thousands of modern, comfortable homes planned for individuals and families alike.
The goal? A safe, welcoming environment that supports everyday life. But this is more than housing. The plan weaves together schools, nurseries, shops, and cultural venues—building not just infrastructure, but a true community. Public space plays a leading role. Parks, green corridors, and recreational areas are embedded throughout—offering room to breathe, move, connect. These shared spaces will foster well-being and a strong sense of belonging. Litostroj is not just a development. It’s a blueprint for how cities grow—smarter, greener, and more human.
1005 House Tržnica, Maribor, Slovenia. The client planned to renovate an old house in the city center into 4 student apartments, 2 family units, and a penthouse. We were asked to review the tender documentation—and immediately saw what was missing: a clear hierarchy of priorities and a structured planning process. In architecture, each scale demands different decisions—some must be confirmed with the client, others coordinated with consultants or estimated with suppliers. This wasn’t happening. The project lacked a backbone. There was no core idea, no three-sentence summary that everyone could align on. Architecture is about building around unchangeable essentials—then layering in details that can evolve. But here, everything felt improvised.
There were no scenarios to test feasibility, no understanding of how student and family living require fundamentally different spatial and social setups. We advised starting backwards: write the advertisement first—what the investor wants to sell—then plan only what’s promised. If it’s not in the offer, it doesn’t need to be designed, costed, or built. This reverse approach keeps the project focused, efficient, and under control. The client had actually written three one-page scenarios, each far more valuable than the 176-page tender documentation. They chose Scenario A: a student rental with 10 identical units. One kitchen and bathroom design. One apartment layout, repeated 10 times. Simple to communicate. Simple to build.
Result? The entire project was coordinated in 2 months—compared to 2 years of misaligned work with unclear goals. The lesson: if everyone on the team can’t explain the project in three sentences, it’s not ready. Clarity creates speed.
1004 Litrostoj, Ljubljana, Slovenia. This one was tough. A public competition for a new Police Headquarters and Ministry of Interior Affairs—about 22,000 m² of office space. The biggest challenge? The brief kept changing. As the Ministry restructured its departments quarter by quarter, we constantly revised layouts to fit new requirements. Each time we moved forward, the structure shifted again. We adapted—but it revealed a deeper issue. We learned that flexibility in architecture starts with clarity in purpose. Yes, buildings must handle change. But they can only do so if they’re designed with change in mind. That requires one thing first: a clear, shared goal.
Without it, no design holds. No investment makes sense. No solution sticks. Whether you're the Ministry, an investor, or the architect—you need to know: What are we building? Why do we need it? How much can we spend? If that’s unclear, no progress is real. It’s like planning a trip with friends: everyone agrees to go, but no one agrees on the destination. Until you do, it doesn’t matter whether you take the bus, fly, or walk—you’re not getting anywhere. That was the lesson: clarity first. Then you can design for flexibility, cost-efficiency, or even a scenic route. But you have to agree on where you're going.
1003 House Credo, Ljubljana, Slovenia. A friend bought a house in Ljubljana with one clear goal: convert it into four rental apartments—on a total renovation budget of just €100,000, tax and permits included. That constraint became our clarity. It forced us to focus on what truly mattered: a smart layout that made every square meter count, bright, well-ventilated rooms, a durable facade and roof that would last 25 years without headaches, outdoor space for every apartment.
The house had good bones, so we adapted rather than demolished. We reused existing windows where possible—moving them to the north side for better thermal performance. Where more light was needed, we added full-height openings that turned simple windows into sun-filled ledges, perfect for sitting as if you were outside. The layout was redesigned from scratch. Dark, narrow corridors were eliminated. Every room now connects to a bright central space, creating diagonal sightlines and surprising spaciousness in a compact footprint. The roof was our biggest intervention. We reused the original rafters but replaced the pitched roof with a flat, 5% incline. This allowed us to create a private terrace for the top-floor apartment—balancing the garden access of the lower units. The finish: a bituminous membrane, low-cost, low-maintenance, with a 25-year guarantee. Even the gutters were reused. Ventilation remained mostly natural, with a small mechanical extractor added only in the bathrooms. The original electrical system was kept—well built and reliable. Structural changes were minimal: a few precise openings in load-bearing walls, none requiring recalculation. Interior surfaces were stripped back, sanded clean, and sealed with a light concrete wash. No coverings. No decoration. Just raw, clean, honest material—ready for life.
The biggest challenge? Lack of documentation. There were no structural drawings. No records of past adaptations. No diagrams showing where pipes or wiring ran through the walls. That uncertainty shaped our approach: we focused only on what was visible, verifiable, and essential. We touched just four things: facade, windows, roof and interior finishes. And yet, the building’s personality changed completely. What remains of the original house isn’t visible to the eye—it’s known only to the owner and the process: barely any new materials were added. That kept delivery and transportation costs near zero. In the end, the only major logistics were seven truckloads to remove demolished debris and clear the overgrown garden. The rest was built on what was already there. A lesson in restraint, trust, and transformation through design—not excess.
1002 Pompidou Kanal, Schaerberk, Brussels. Our first collaboration with a Swiss office was an opportunity to learn from one of the world’s best—an office renowned for its precision, deep knowledge of buildings, and mastery of cost-driven decision-making. We worked as part of a 25-architect team on a single project for nearly two years. To put it simply—it was incredibly complex.
The project involved partially renovating the old Citroën car assembly factory, inserting three new volumes to house a museum, gallery, and archive. But this was no ordinary transformation. The building itself acts as an open street within the city, remaining accessible even at night—eliminating traditional closing hours and redefining how a structure interacts with its environment. One of the greatest challenges was deciding what to preserve. Is the true value in the existing materials, or in their potential to be reused? Which spaces should remain intact, layered with new construction, and which should be replaced? Are we enriching the building’s history, or merely maintaining aging elements that will demand even greater energy in the long run?
Then, there’s the pressing issue of energy efficiency. The factory’s massive 40,000-square-meter glass roof and its bolted metal structure posed significant challenges. Every discussion circled back to the same question: Why does this effort matter? What do we gain by repurposing instead of rebuilding? This was an emotionally demanding project—one with no clear references, no simple solutions. The architect, general planner, and execution team had to work as one because every decision carried structural risk. Nothing could be deferred. Every choice was urgent, every move calculated.
Made at Atelier Kanal (Brussels, Belgium), established by noArchitekten (Brussels, Belgium), Sergison Bates architects (London, UK) and EM2N Architekten (Zürich, Switzerland).
1001 Site Temple, Porto, Portugal. The client wanted a contemplation space on the beach near Porto, Portugal. Their budget: €10 million. We delivered it for €550,000. How? By recognizing that the perfect contemplative space already existed—the beach itself. Instead of building, we observed. Walking barefoot on the sand, watching the horizon shift, and feeling the vastness of the sea—this was the experience we needed to protect, not replace.
The most powerful lesson in architecture—and business—is knowing when to do nothing. The best solutions often aren’t about adding more but about defining what should remain untouched. The most efficient designs use minimal materials, leave the smallest footprint, and require little maintenance. Sometimes, the smartest investment is recognizing value instead of creating it. We didn’t build a new space—we revealed the one that was already there.
1000 Economic-Legislative Potemkin city, Ljubljana, Slovenia. This project taught us what truly matters in architecture—and how we must think, build, and design moving forward. The most critical questions in decision-making are often ignored, yet they shape the best outcomes. Chief among them: cost. It’s the single most decisive factor, yet too often treated as an afterthought.
We now see cost not as a limitation but as a strategic tool. By making "How much does it cost?" the foundation of our design process, we refine ideas, eliminate waste, and create spaces that are both intelligent and sustainable. Cost isn’t a constraint—it’s a path to better decisions.
This project reinforced that meaningful architecture isn’t about trends or perfection. It’s about precision and long-term value. Moving forward, we will apply these lessons, define clear priorities, and commit to them. Our goal is simple: to create spaces that serve people—not demand attention.
Contact and commentsWe focus on execution. Only serious and well-defined proposals will receive a response.
If you want to contact us or have any comments about our WEB page, you can write us at info@zeroname.ch
Legal disclaimer
This website provides general information about zeroname.ch.
We make no guarantees about completeness or accuracy.
Content is subject to change. Use at your own discretion.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2023 zeroname.ch