project : : Artlab cultural center at EPFL University : : Lausanne, Switzerland : : 2012~2016 : : 3.500m² (constr) : : 13.500m² (site) : : 
program : : Art museum, Technology exhibition gallery, Cafateria, Public spaces (porches) : :  
credits : : Javier Villar Ruiz Partner in Charge at KKAA (LEAD) : : CCHE (AOR) : : Ingphi / Ejiri Eng. (STR) : : BG Ing. (MEP) : : AAB (ACO) : :  L'Observatoire Int. (LIG) : : JPF Ducret (WOOD) : : Marti Constr. (CONS) : : 
synopsis : : The project site is a vast lawn in the middle of the EPFL campus. It disconnects the heart of the campus and its main tram access point from the students’ residential area Southwards. It also separates the already dense West part of the campus from the still under development East, non structured nor coherent. The given vast project site allowed to locate and configure the three pavilions in many ways. Finally we decided to gather these required pavilions into one very thin and long building, as a purposeful trace in the territory, transforming the site from being a dysfunctional void into a new cohesive public space within the campus. We developed a new kind of structure solution combining wood and steel. Changing the proportion of the wood/steel allowed all 57 structure portals (all different in span) to have the exact same section throughout the 270m long building, making the whole envelope of the project modular and able to be prefabricated : : photos by A. Barakat, J. Tettamanti, M. Denance, V. Jeck : :