Bucolic block: Herzog & de Meuron reveals designs for a Swiss lakeside office
A new office building designed by Herzog & de Meuron is set to grace the shores of Lake Geneva in 2021. The Swiss architecture practice, known for its sensitive, material-led and site-specific approach, has been announced by global wealth and asset management company Lombard Odier as the designers of its new head office.
Competing against practices such as BIG, Dominique Perrault and OMA for the commission, Herzog & de Meuron impressed Lombard Odier with a ‘resolutely contemporary’ approach that was cutting-edge yet also addressed the building from the sky, land and lake, in harmony with the surrounding landscape.
Located on a 27,400 sq m plot of land that borders Lake Geneva, the open and transparent form with elegantly cantilevering and curved floor slabs will allow employees to experience nature from within the building.
‘A stone-clad bunker would no longer be in keeping with the image of a contemporary bank. We have designed a transparent, elegant and measured building; as such, its architecture reflects the vision and values of Lombard Odier,’ says Pierre de Meuron.
Marking an important step forward for Lombard Odier – to which the concept of ‘one roof’ was a key part of the brief – the headquarters will house all 2,600 employees under one roof, as well as an 600-seat auditorium and a staff restaurant.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist past
A new project and exhibition at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle revisits the radical urban ideas that changed Tyneside in the 1960s and 1970s
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai
‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
By Rebecca Anne Proctor Published
-
At The Manner, New York has a highly fashionable new living room
The Manner, a new hopsitality experience by Standard International in the heart of SoHo, triples up as a hotel, private residence, and members’ club
By Hannah Walhout Published
-
Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich is a ‘miniature city’
Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich aims to offer a case study in forward-thinking, contemporary architecture for healthcare
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Step inside La Tulipe, a flower-shaped brutalist beauty by Jack Vicajee Bertoli in Geneva
Sprouting from the ground, nicknamed La Tulipe, the Fondation Pour Recherches Médicales building by Jack Vicajee Bertoli is undergoing a two-phase renovation, under the guidance of Geneva architects Meier + Associé
By Jonathan Glancey Published
-
Christian de Portzamparc’s Dior Geneva flagship store dazzles and flows
Dior’s Geneva flagship by French architect Christian de Portzamparc has a brand new, wavy façade that references the fashion designer's original processes using curves, cuts and light
By Herbert Wright Published
-
An Uetikon house embraces minimalism, light, and its Swiss lake views
This Uetikon home by Pablo Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) sets itself apart from traditional Swiss housing, with a contemporary design that connects with nature
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Look inside Sixth&Blanco, Herzog & de Meuron’s first project in Texas
Step inside Sixth&Blanco by Herzog & de Meuron, as the Swiss studio reveals interior images of its first ever Texas design, a forward-thinking, sustainable and mixed-use scheme
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
CERN Science Gateway: behind the scenes at Renzo Piano’s campus in Geneva
CERN Science Gateway by Renzo Piano Building Workshop announces opening date in Switzerland, heralding a new era for groundbreaking innovation
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Herzog & de Meuron’s SIP Main Campus weaves together nature and sculptural concrete
SIP Main Campus, a new workspace by Herzog & de Meuron, completes on the Swiss-French border
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Studio Tropicana, Switzerland and Italy: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
Based in Switzerland and Italy, Studio Tropicana is part of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published