Geneva, Switzerland, 2008

The building consists of two main elements: the institutional office spaces organized as a floating ring and the “Espace Académique” or academic space located under and inside the ring. On the ground level, it ties the building into the flow of the city; on the upper floors it connects the sides of the ring. Interspersed with hanging gardens and trees, the clear-cut volume above sits like a bridge over the spaces below. It provides many different environments for people to meet for formal and informal exchange, all filled with daylight and offering access to green spaces or continuity to the city.

The office ring contains generic, efficient and well lit office space with a depth of 9.6m that can be flexibly reorganized should the needs of the institutions change. The façade pattern serves as structure and prevents excessive solar gain supplemented by blinds running behind it. The pattern’s dimensions are multiples of a generic office module so that it supports maximum possible flexibility.