Depot 195

It was an innovative project when six friends from Winterthur in the Canton of Zurich turned a carpenter’s workshop in the centre of an old industrial estate into a hostel. Depot 195 now offers accommodation in dorms and private rooms that can compete with hotel standards. Depot 195 is only a seven-minute walk away from the main station, a unique hostel in the middle of a lively and urban former industrial quarter. The charming brick building lies on the historic complex once owned by the Sulzer brothers. The factory producing marine engines had been the main employer in the city and when the production was relocated, depression followed. No one really knew what to do with the area that was larger than Winterthur’s historic city centre. Then cultural institutions, shops, restaurants and offices found a home here and revitalised the quarter. “