Operations center Romande Energie

Located on the heights above Rolle this plot has a double exposure first over the vineyards and on the other side across the plain and Lake Geneva. The building exploits this intermediate position and completes by its morphology the series of five volumes of the A-One Business Centre. Its S shape opens onto the surrounding land and creates two courtyards with distinctive characters: the reception courtyard on the vineyard side establishes a link between the offices and workshops while the technical courtyard facing the lake is dedicated to on-site activity and manoeuvring of service vehicles.

Romande Energie has a twofold activity: work on site and technical studies. Through its shape and organisation the building handles this dual programme while proposing a unified architectural expression. The first wing is dedicated to the administrative activity (three floors), the second to the workshops and the two final wings to storage. Regardless of the nature of the particular spaces, they all benefit from natural light on the façade.

Special attention is paid to flexibility of the building: the choice of a pillar and slab structure for the offices permits high office modularity. The low depth of the U- shaped halls leaves room for many special combinations and permits use for many purposes. Moreover all of the working spaces benefit from natural light (this goes for the archives and storage areas as well as the offices),  so guaranteeing the highest possible working comfort and facilitating their conversion to other uses should that be necessary later on.

The notion of sustainable development is illustrated in this project by the following principles:

a harmonious relationship between the building and its immediate environment, high quality of the working environment (wellbeing), compact volumes, great flexibility of potential uses.

The construction technique privileges sustainable building principles with materials that are easy to maintain and resist increased stresses. The project satisfies high energy requirements. It is designed to qualify for the Minergie-P Label and aims to satisfy the material, comfort and health standards specified for the Minergie-ECO Label.