In a dramatic feat of engineering, an 80m-long commercial building in Zurich has been relocated in its entirety, 60m to the left of its original position. The 123-year-old redbrick Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) was once a factory for the manufacture of tool machinery, weapons and electric locomotives however its recent owner ABB had announced plans to pull the aging building down.

Following a public petition to save the structure, the MFO was taken on by new owners Swiss Prime Site who pledged to fund a relocation of the old management building, preserving the much-loved MFO and enabling Swiss Federal Railways to undertake an expansion project at Switzerland’s seventh largest railway station, Zurich Oerlikon, situated nearby. The estimated cost of the relocation operation stands at CHF12m (€10m).

via Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon, Editorial, world architecture news, architecture jobs.