The Swatch - Omega campus in Biel in the canton of Bern is the second implementation of Shigeru Bana in Switzerland; the first was the building of the media group Tamedia in Zurich, also with a hybrid timber structure. The campus consists of three buildings: the Swatch headquarters, the Cité du Temps pavilion and the Omega factory. The factory, completed back in 2017, is located among the existing buildings of the complex of the watchmaker Swatch Group, and the other two buildings are located in the specially acquired territory of the company next door. The three new structures share a common design approach.
Shigeru Ban has already emphasized in the case of Tamedia that Swiss engineers - and regulations - allow him to work with wood as freely as would be impossible in his native Japan. In the case of the Swatch Group, Banu has managed to overcome most of the "planetary" standards: three buildings with a combined area of 46,778 m2 - this is one of the largest projects in the world with a hybrid timber frame. The client and the architect wanted to show that wood is the only realistic renewable material for the main structure of large structures. 4600 m3 of coniferous wood, a completely local resource, thanks to the rapid growth of Swiss forests and effective forest management, “recovered” in just 10 hours.
Shigeru Bana's interview with Swissinfo (Russian subtitles)
Other advantages of wood construction include a carbon footprint that is half that of concrete and three times that of steel. When it comes to “sustainable” forestry, as in this case, wooden structures also retain carbon, while in nature, when wood decays after its natural death, it returns to the atmosphere.
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zooming 1/8 Swatch Headquarters © Swatch
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A comprehensive design and construction process with the collaboration of architects, engineers and builders reduces time and cost, and construction sites become quieter and cleaner. In addition, studies have shown that people who work in timber buildings feel happier and even better physically.
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zooming 1/3 Swatch Headquarters © Swatch
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The most striking building of the three is the Swatch headquarters. It is a serpentine structure with a lattice-like lattice shell on a wooden frame that resembles a variegated reptile skin: its 7,700 parts were designed using 3D programs and manufactured to a tolerance of 0.1 mm. The 11,000 m2 façade is composed of 2,800 elements of three types. Each such element is assembled from about 50 parts.
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zooming 1/3 Swatch Headquarters © Swatch
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zooming 2/3 Swatch Headquarters Photo © Didier Boy de la Tour
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zooming 3/3 Swatch Headquarters Photo © Didier Boy de la Tour
Most of all are opaque elements, some of which are covered with solar panels on the outside. The translucent polymer "cushions" in the middle have received a polycarbonate sheet for thermal insulation. The transparent elements are made of four layers of glass, and roller blinds are also built into them. Polymer and glass elements - ventilated.
The interior with a total area of 25,000 m2 is not divided at all, so special attention is paid to the acoustic setting of the premises. "Swiss crosses" made of finely perforated panels on the inner surface of the shell are responsible for sound comfort.
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zooming 1/11 Swatch Headquarters © Swatch
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The building has 400 coworking workstations, a ground floor dining room, recreational areas, and “booths” for focused work or telephone calls for a maximum of six people. Stairway to Nowhere is for brainstorming sessions. The lobby façade has received four blocks of glass shutters that allow it to be connected to the outer space.
Five evergreen bucides (Bucida buceras) are planted in the building. Five above-ground floors complement the underground levels, which include a garage for 170 cars and 182 bicycles.
On the third floor, a bridge leads from the Swatch headquarters to the Cité du Temps; from the sun and rain, the passage protects the edge of the lattice shell stretching to the neighboring building: it seems that the "snake" is trying to swallow it. The first floor of the pavilion is an open concrete arcade with a span of 15 m, but above the frame is completely wooden. On six floors, it houses the Planet Swatch exhibition areas and the Omega Museum, as well as a conference hall for 400 people protruding from the façade like a white cocoon.
The Omega watch factory is located a little further, among the company's old cases. Considering the nature of the production, most of the premises meet the "clean room" standard, and the wooden frame brought there is an absolute innovation. The closeness of wood adds warmth and comfort to the laboratory spaces. The beams and supports of the frame are made of glued timber (glulam), the floors are made of cross-laminated timber (CLT). An automatic storage system with a height of three floors is located in the concrete core of the building, and glass blinds at the recreational areas allow them to be converted into open or interior spaces at will.
The campus is cooled and heated by a geothermal system of 9 wells; a total of 2,770 m2 of solar panels have been installed on the roofs of the three buildings.
