3XN/GXN & IB design to provide facility for new ideas in science, business and technology

Tenderstream member 3XN/GXN and IB have won an international design contest for a new ‘Ecotope’ at the EPFL Innovation Park (EIP) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Innovation Ecotope is part of a 250,000 sq m strategic masterplan, geared towards crafting a social, sustainable, and active site for technology, industry, and innovation linked to the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. 

EPFL, one of the world’s leading publicresearch institutions, has operated the EIP since 1991. As the successful EIP turns 30, the demand for strategic research partnerships have increased, bringing with it an opportunity to rethink what innovation looks like at EPFL. “It’s not just about adding surface area,” commented Ursula Oesterle, Vice President for Innovation and driver of the Ecotope initiative in a release issued by EPFL. “Today, businesses interested in innovation – whether startups or established companies – need a place where they can meet on a daily basis to share ideas. That’s the kind of vibrant, stimulating environment we intend to create with Ecotope.”

The concept for the Ecotope campus not only brings together leaders in business, science, and technology, but also puts a high priority on access to green spaces and biophilic principles. A green pedestrian route linking Ecotope to the EIP and other zones of the EPFL campus brings nature into the heart of the site and extends it outwards toward the main pedestrian axis connecting the two. The main building, located on the site’s southeastern corner, will serve as the gateway to and social hub for the Ecotope campus. Labs and offices surround the building’s perimeter, punctuated by twin atria which, like the social spaces scattered across the Ecotope campus, will become hubs for innovation and collaboration.

Jan Ammundsen, 3XN senior partner-in-charge, stated: “Our design takes on the challenge posed by the EPFL Innovation Park to create a place that will have a positive impact on society for years to come. Ecotope will be a campus that facilitates and generates disruptive innovative solutions by being the interface between EPFL and society at large.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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