Image courtesy of Fernando Guerra

SwissTech Convention Center to the EPFL campus

Situated at the northern entrance to the EPFL campus, the SwissTech Convention Center becomes a new landmark, a clearly identifiable reference point in the landscape. The metallic shell, closely following the internal spatial configuration of the optimised main auditorium.

Image courtesy of Fernando Guerra

The auditorium is designed to accommodate up to 3,000 people, but just as importantly, it can be subdivided into alternative configurations to allow for a variety of smaller-scale events to take place simultaneously or in sequence. The optimisation of these spaces in their different arrangements, which guarantee impeccable sight lines and balanced distances from the different stage set-ups in each case, ultimately defined the building’s form.

Image courtesy of Fernando Guerra

The question of external cladding for the shell of the convention center was resolved through a typical process of research in terms of form and materiality, leading to the selection of elongated diamond-shaped tiles in anodised aluminium.

Image courtesy of Fernando Guerra

Hydraulic platforms and rotating seat mounts allow the auditorium to be transformed into a flat, multi-purpose room or banquet hall in a matter of minutes. The west facade of the main foyer is draped in 400 square metres of glazed panels, which include revolutionary dye-sensitized solar cells, developed by the Swiss chemist Michael Grätzel of the EPFL. The artist Catherine Bolle worked with the technically possible colours to achieve Le Semainier.

more. conventioncenter.epfl.ch/ | www.richterdahlrocha.com/en/