Featured photo credits: Roland Tännler It’s not just old truck tarps that find a new destination. Even materials, buildings, and spaces can be rethought, reused, and transformed. This is the philosophy behind FREITAG, and its Flagship Store in Zurich perhaps represents the most evident expression of it. Inaugurated in 2006, the famous container tower has over the years become a landmark for the West Zurich district, an almost obligatory stop for those visiting the city, and an icon capable of transcending the boundaries of a simple commercial space.
To celebrate its twenty years, FREITAG inaugurated the exhibition “A SECOND LIFE – Used Materials, New Purposes”, hosted on the upper floors of the structure and dedicated to the brand’s history and the culture of reuse that has defined its identity since its origins. 
FREITAG Flagship Store Zurich. Credits: Roland Tännler 
The FREITAG Flagship Store Zurich is built entirely from rusty, discarded shipping containers. Credits: Roland Tännler
A tower in the heart of West Zurich
The story of the Flagship Store began in 2005, in the Gerold-Areal area, just 150 meters from what was then the factory of the famous FREITAG bags. The land was then little more than an uncultivated area, inserted in an industrial district still far from the liveliness that characterizes the area around the Hardbrücke today. The opportunity to transform it came with a simple intuition: to use old shipping containers as building elements and stack them vertically. 
Exhibition “A SECOND LIFE. Used Materials, New Purposes” at the Flagship Store Zurich. Credits: Seraina Wirz In just six months, from the building permit to the selection of containers in the port of Hamburg to the realization, the structure that would be defined as the “smallest skyscraper in Zurich” took shape. 
Exhibition “A SECOND LIFE. Used Materials, New Purposes” at the Flagship Store Zurich. Credits: Seraina Wirz Nineteen discarded maritime containers stacked on top of each other gave life to a structure immediately recognizable, visible even from trains arriving in the city. A deliberately rough tower, marked by rust and far from the traditional idea of a flagship store. Its strength lies precisely here: the building does not hide its history, but showcases it.
Reuse, reinvent, give a second life
The architecture of the Flagship Store perfectly reflects FREITAG’s DNA. Since 1993, the Swiss brand has built its identity around the reuse of existing materials: old truck tarps, seat belts, inner tubes, and, more recently, materials from other worlds are transformed into new objects. 
Credits: FREITAG Archive The same logic was applied to the building in Zurich. The containers, originally designed to transport goods and destined to be discarded, were recontextualized and transformed into a vertical commercial space. The result is an architecture that does not seek to be perfect, but authentic. The rust, the metal surfaces, and the modular structure become an integral part of the experience. 
Credits: FREITAG Archive 
FREITAG Archive. Credits: Vivi Stucki And from the panoramic platform overlooking the neighborhood, the visitor can observe the city and, ideally, also the journey of the raw material that arrives at FREITAG to become something completely different.
From temporary to permanent
The longevity of the tower was by no means a given. When it was designed, the Flagship Store was intended as a temporary structure, supported by a temporary building permit and a lease contract. 
Credits: FREITAG Archive However, the project quickly captured the attention of the public, the media, and the world of architecture. In 2010, the structure was expanded with two additional containers, taking advantage of the flexibility of the modular system. In 2014, a decisive step was taken: thanks to energy efficiency measures, including the installation of a heat pump, the structure obtained final approval. 
Credits: FREITAG Archive Even the rust, now an inseparable element of its image, has required new attention over the years. In 2019, the deterioration of the surfaces and the renewal of the land lease led to a complete restoration, including a new coat of paint. And the story continues to evolve. From mid-2026, a photovoltaic system installed on the sheet metal roofs contributes to powering the store with solar energy. Next to the tower, the Repair Kiosk, inaugurated in 2025, adds another piece to the brand’s circular philosophy: repairing what already exists, prolonging its life instead of replacing it.
“A SECOND LIFE”: the exhibition for the twenty years
To celebrate this special anniversary, FREITAG opens a new window on its history with “A SECOND LIFE – Used Materials, New Purposes”. The exhibition, hosted on the upper floors of the tower, retraces the brand’s history through unpublished archive materials, telling not only the birth of its famous bags but also that of the place that has become one of its most recognizable symbols. It is a story of used materials, reinvented objects, and temporary architectures that have become permanent. A story that also tells the transformation of West Zurich well: from an industrial area to one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the city, crossed every day by residents, creatives, visitors, and travelers. Twenty years later, that container tower continues to do what it was designed for: attract attention, challenge the conventional idea of a store, and demonstrate that what has already had a life can easily have a second one. For FREITAG, after all, the concept of a “second life” is not a trend. It’s a way of designing.
