Under One Roof, the design by Kuma and Holzer Kobler Architekten was the best in the second round of the international competition, overtaking rivals such as Jackob + McFarlane (Paris), HHF Architects and AWP Architectes (Basel). Barkow Leibinger Architekten (Berlin) and Berger & Berger (Paris).
The exterior of the building is quite unusual: it is a very narrow and long building with an asymmetrical façade and a 260 meter high tiled roof. Laminated wood, perforated aluminum panels, glass will also be used. According to the architects, they used a gable roof with stone tiles to demonstrate "an abstract metaphor for traditional Swiss tile roofs" and to offer the visitor a discussion about the relationship between tradition and innovation, past and future.
The peculiarity of the project is that instead of three separate structures on the EPFL campus, one will appear - divided into three consecutive parts. The first, Montreux Jazz Lab, is dedicated to the Montreux Jazz Festival: it will include a café with live music, concert and exhibition halls. The next one, Espace Art & Sciences, is an experimental space for scenography, and in the latest EPFL plans to showcase its scientific achievements.
The new Kengo Kuma & Associates building will be located next to the main campus and adjacent to the famous Rolex training center, the work of another Japanese bureau - SANAA. Construction will begin in 2013, and its opening is already scheduled for 2014. The preliminary budget for the project is about CHF 30 million.
Nastya Tarasova
