Flood Retention Area Hegmatten, Winterthur
Making projects understandable before decisions are made.
For the Hegmatten flood retention area in Winterthur, our task was to make a project visible that had previously existed only in plans, calculations, and concepts. On a large site including an airfield, football fields, and agricultural areas, we needed to spatially illustrate possible flood scenarios, providing a solid foundation for informed public discussion.
Skepticism was particularly noticeable among local residents, who raised questions about restrictions, loss of usage, and concrete impacts. We understood that visualizations alone cannot resolve all concerns—but they can create transparency. Together with the canton and specialist planners, we analyzed the area and identified key points where the project's effects and impacts would be most clearly visible during a flood event.
Services
Visualizations for public communication
Consulting and process facilitation
Conceptual advice
Photography and drone surveys
Partners
Process Facilitation
Throughout the process, the visualizations were discussed, reviewed, and refined in planner meetings. This iterative exchange ensured that the representations were technically accurate, realistic, and comprehensible, without oversimplifying or sugarcoating. Both opportunities and limitations were shown: water where it would actually stand in a flood, existing infrastructure clearly visible, and temporary changes in land use.
The goal was not to persuade at all costs, but to enable understanding. Even though not all concerns could be fully resolved, the visualizations provided a shared basis for discussion. They made the project understandable enough to allow an informed decision, enabling the implementation of a key infrastructure project from a flood protection perspective.
We bring this experience to other projects as well where municipalities need to communicate sensitive initiatives transparently, and trust is built not through promises, but through understandable presentation.
Because only what is understood can truly convince.
