EPFL Ecotope

As a hub for innovation, the new Ecotope campus at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne will unite communities across academia and the private sector. The design for the masterplan and main building of the campus seeks to form a social, sustainable, and active environment where knowledge sharing and co-creation can flourish. With the ambition of bridging the gap between research and industry, the Ecotope campus is designed to be a diverse community that brings together citizens, corporations, innovators, ethical and regulatory decision makers to spur knowledge sharing and co-creation. The 25,000sqm main building embraces a wide variety of tenants and users with a mix of both office and laboratory spaces. Located on the site’s southeastern corner, it will serve as the gateway to and a social hub for the Ecotope campus. The masterplan for the campus encompasses 140,000sqm. Both the masterplan and the main building are designed with sustainability and circularity as the foundation. This ambition is expressed throughout the building in the choice of materials with a preference for recycled, recyclable, and reusable matter. The building’s structure and façade will be developed primarily in timber. Moreover, the design incorporates low-energy principles with a compact building volume, the use of photovoltaics, lake water cooling, natural ventilation, and evaporative cooling in the atriums. The aim is to create resilient architecture that fits both current and future needs. To ensure this flexibility, the building is designed around modularity and with a future-proof floor to floor height of 4,5 metres. The way we design spaces has a direct influence on the behaviour of the people who use and inhabit them. With the foundational aim of the Ecotope to bring different communities together, the main building is designed around the idea of serendipity. As such, the layout of the building seeks to nudge the user groups to both meet each other formally and informally, fostering interaction through unplanned encounters. As the campus gateway, the main building is characterised by openness and connection. Laboratories and offices are placed at the periphery, surrounding two atriums that form the social heart of the building offering a variety of public spaces. Like the atriums, the building’s staircases stimulate connection by creating visual transparency between the floors and bringing people to circulate and meet one another. The ambition for sustainability also encompasses the social aspect with human wellbeing as a central criterion for the Ecotope. The curved structure and the prevalence of timber and bio-based materials ensures a warm and soft design. The building and campus will be characterised by access to greenery and biophilic principles. This includes a green pedestrian route that links Ecotope to the EPFL campus and brings nature into the heart of the site.