Sunnige Hof housing estate cooperative: keen to offer attractive services

The Sunnige Hof not-for-profit cooperative operates 15 housing estates and more than 1’600 apartments in the city and conurbation of Zurich. It places particular emphasis on fair rents and communal living spaces, as well as on attractive services in the individual estates. Doris Gillard is responsible for coordinating these services. She explains: «By providing local services such as a senior citizen’s café, a hairdresser’s, a baker’s, a nursery, a medical centre or a dry cleaner’s, our aim is for the older generation in particular to be able to lead independent lives in their own homes for as long as possible.» Since 2015, this list has included providing Mobility vehicles directly on the doorstep of the largest of the cooperative’s housing estates, Mattenhof and Else Züblin. A third Mobility-Flex station was added at the Silbergrueb estate in September 2018.

Distributed across the Mobility stations are three estate cars and two electric cars (with charging points) for use by any Mobility customer. Residents get their Mobility subscriptions free of charge. All they pay for is the hours and kilometres driven; they can, of course, also use any other vehicle in Mobility’s fleet, which comprises 2’890 vehicles at 1’480 locations throughout Switzerland and, latterly, 200 scooters in the city of Zurich. The stats testify to the level of interest: 200 resident’s subscriptions and 38 Business-Light have been purchased to date. The electric cars, which by the way are light blue, bear the Sunnige Hof logo. The decision to go with Mobility was not made for image reasons, says Doris Gillard: «Since we offer apartments with services, Mobility was a logical choice, together with the fact that Zurich specifies 0.6 parking spaces per dwelling.» The cooperative’s Mobility offering is proof that sustainability is not only integral to its mission statement – it’s also practised and encouraged on a daily basis. Sunnige Hof is pleased with its choice of mobility solution, not least because it’s accompanied by low management overheads.