Office building Helvetia Patria

The rehabilitation of the façade of this administration building in the railway station district of Lausanne had become urgent. It was to be preserved while at the same time improving its attractiveness in the market for leased objects. The project, which involved more than a mere facelift created a new building architecture in temporal and spatial harmony with the original concept.

Architectural concept

We decided to place the concrete of the primary structure beneath glass in order to impart new life to it without changing its vigorous character. The sharp edges of the glass housing reflect the geometrical rigor of the concrete element profiles. The reflections of the sky change the appearance of the building in a continuously renewed play of false transparencies with the glazing, imparting new dynamism to the structure. The transparent double cladding recedes, revealing the concrete structure and at the same time reflecting the image of the surroundings. The structural elements are of steel, and each structural module is a smoke protection sector.