Client: OCBA & University of Geneve

Location: Geneve, Switzerland

Date: 2024

Type: Education

Area: 33813m2

Budget: CHF 123 million

AZPML

Alejandro Zaera-Polo, Maider Llaguno-Munitxa, Ivaylo Nachev

Bonalumi Engineering

Alessandro Bonalumi

Building Concept

The building has three primary ambitions:

1.To provide connectivity across all departments to enhance synergy between them.

2.To create maximum flexibility so that the building can accommodate programmatic changes in the future.

3.To achieve maximum sustainability through the compactness of the building mass and the adoption of a low-carbon concrete and prefabricated and highly insulated envelope with solar shielding shelves.

4.To create a powerful image of a tower with a landmark silhouette.

Envelope

The building envelope has been designed with a double horizontal window on every level, alternating solid insulated bands with transparent bands. The purpose of this is to provide heavy insulation for nearly 50% of the envelope. One of the fenestration bands is located as high as possible in the room to maximize the daylight intake. The other fenestration band is located at the level of the eye and permits to engage with the views. Each one of the bands protrudes outwards 1,5m: the lower solid band hosts a large planter to grow flowers, herbs and bushes, which are located 600mm above the floor level and therefore located at eyesight to enrich the views with vegetation and flowers, while simultaneously serving to retain water in the envelope for the purpose humidifying the urban microclimate around the building.

The upper shelf serves for three concurrent purposes:

1)Insulate a part of the envelope which is not particularly effective in terms of providing daylight.

2)Shield the lower glazed band from high sun

3)Act as a reflective shelf that captures the sunlight and reflects it back into the ceilings to increase the daylight intake on the upper fenestration band.

The vegetated shelves will be maintained by an automatic irrigation system, and can be further maintained from a cradle installed in the cornices of the building.

The depths of the green shelves and the reflective shelves vary in the different facades, in response to the orientation of the envelope on every point. The shelves will be built with a steel substructure holding GRC panels to reduce the weight if the elements without diminishing their performance. The vegetated envelope is aimed to provide an extension to the vegetation along the Arne River, and will perform to retain stormwater and produce evapotranspiration to improve the local microclimate.