Herzog & de Meuron has completed a headquarters for Switzerland Bank Lombard Odier in Geneva, Switzerland. The program is located in Bellevue on the bank of the Genfsee and offers 2,000 employees with a capacity of up to 2,600 and replaces six separate locations in the city.
The design of the scheme emphasizes openness and connection to nature. Full -glazed facades offer panoramic views of the surrounding lake and mountains, while a central atrium brings natural light into the core of the building. Thin, curved concrete slabs project outwards, act as shading devices and create terraces that serve as outdoor spaces for employees and visitors.
The internal layout of the headquarters prioritizes flexibility and cooperation. Double height common rooms, a restaurant with a view of the lake and an auditorium with 500 seats, which was designed like a Greek amphitheater, serve as a formal and informal meeting areas.
The blood circulation is designed as a “inner topography” with ramps, stairs and average floor slabs that create liquid movements between the levels. The amenities of the employees include a fitness center, a yoga facilities, restaurants and outdoor terraces.
Sustainability measures include recycled concrete foundations, solar collectors on the roof, rainwater harvest and integration into the genes system from Geneva, which uses the water water to heat and cool down. Deep Cantilever reduce the sun's clamping, while bicycle storage, EV charging points and Adjatz support sustainable mobility to a train station.
“Lombard Odier's new headquarters are unconventional in his dimensions and design,” said Jacques Duke about the scheme. “From the outside, the building looks like a kind of 'Mille Feuilles' with horizontal, unevenly shaped plates; everything seems to float in a forest from white columns. Glass fronts offer a view of the lake from the inside, sometimes even up to Mont Blanc. It is an architecture that is open to the outside.
