EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing

Located on the edge of the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), in the municipality of Ecublens, the Quartier Nord is home to infrastructure that is essential to the university's reputation. Directly linked to the M1 metro station connecting Lausanne to Renens, the complex includes a convention centre that can accommodate up to 3,000 people: the SwissTech Convention Centre, a student accommodation building with a capacity of 516 beds, a hotel, administrative and service areas, restaurants and shops, as well as a 275-space car park. The complex is organised around a large square towards which the public spaces of the convention centre and shops converge, reinforcing the public character of the neighbourhood.

The student accommodation building stands to the east of the large square and extends southwards to the metro station. The shops and restaurants are housed in a covered gallery, above which are the hotel and student accommodation. The building, whose scale is softened by a series of articulations and variations in the height of the different volumes, is arranged around two courtyards.

A system of walkways surrounds the courtyards and serves the 88 shared flats, which comprise a total of 336 rooms, providing access to the flats' common areas, namely the living rooms and kitchens. These semi-private living spaces lead to the individual bedrooms located on the outer perimeter, each with a private bathroom. At the ends of the walkways, large openings offer views of the square. They also bring additional natural light into the courtyards.

The 180 studios are located in an east-west facing building and are distributed along a central corridor punctuated by landings. These allow for the incorporation of common areas, bring in natural light, and provide landmarks specific to each floor along the 110-metre-long corridors. The landings, some of which are double-height, others consisting of terraces, are connected by staircases that create an alternative and lively route within the building.


The building's exterior façades, with their screen-printed glass cladding and anodised aluminium shutters, maintain a clear dialogue with the SwissTech Convention Centre, while the colourful window frames anticipate the festive atmosphere of the inner courtyards.


The interior façades of the walkways are clad with 800 fibre cement panels hand-painted by artist Catherine Bolle. This artistic intervention, entitled Le Chromoscope, aims to create an atmosphere that is both intimate and lively in the walkways, designed as living and social spaces for students.

EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing

Project
EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing
Program

516 bedrooms : 172 studios and 80 apartments with 2, 4, 6 or 8 rooms

status
Built
location
Suisse, Ecublens
year
2008 - 2015
Client
MEG Ecublens CCR représenté par Credit Suisse AG Real Estate Asset Management SDRS 3, Zurich
Floor area
27658 m2
Team
Lausanne

Jacques Richter, Ignacio Dahl Rocha, Kenneth Ross, Alexis Wintsch, Philippe Papaux, Nicolas Adrien, Hilario Dahl Rocha, Marco Petruzzi, Antoine Barc, Martin Mouzo, Pascal Rossier, Mauro Branco, Mario Sousa, Maria Losana Vela, Baris Kansu, Christophe Gachnang, Marcello Monti, Stéphane Monney, Michel Grilá, Michel Gribi, Laurent Berset, Philippe Marmillod, Martina Trobisch

Team
Design Area

Jacques Richter, Ignacio Dahl Rocha, Claudia Dell'Ariccia, Rita Erb, Aitor Juanbetz, Teresa Cots, Marco Turin

Award
XVII SCA CPAU Award. Best work abroad. Award: EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing, Ecublens
Prix Bilan de l'Immobilier, EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing
Prixforix, 2ème prix, EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing
General
contractor
HRS Real Estate SA
Structural
engineer
Daniel Willi SA
Geotechnical
Karakas & Français SA
HVAC
engineer
RG Riedweg et Gendre SA
Sanitary
engineer
Duchein SA
Electrical
engineer
Betelec SA
Safety
engineer
Hautle Anderegg + Partner SA
Facade
consultant
BCS SA
Acoustical
consultant
AAB J. Stryjenski & H. Monti SA
Interior
design
RDR design
Landscape
architect
L'Atelier du paysage Jean-Yves Le Baron Sàrl
Others
consultants
Scéno Plus (Montréal), SonicDesign Distribution Sàrl, Géomètre: Renaud et Burnand SA / Coordination CVSE: GreenEtech / Environnement: Geos Ingénieurs Conseils SA / Plan qualité management: Pom + Consulting SA
Artist
Catherine Bolle
Photo
credits
Fernando Guerra | FG+SG / Yves André / Adrien Barakat / Ennio Bettinelli
EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing

EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing

2008 - 2015 · Suisse, Ecublens · Housing » Grouped

On the eastern edge of the site, student housing and commercial and service areas provide a clear border on the public plaza. Extending to the south to include the Metro station, shops and restaurants are sheltered by a covered gallery with the hotel and student lodgings above. The large scale of the building is mediated through a series of articulations and variations in height of the different volumes that make up the complex. Only the central bodies of the building are carried up to level eight at the top. The outer facades clad in serigraphed glass and aluminium louvers maintain a clear dialogue with the convention center, the coloured window jambs anticipate the exuberance of the inner courtyard. The shared apartments are arranged around the access galleries. Semi-private living spaces in turn lead to the individual bedrooms, each with it’s own private bathroom. All the bedrooms are located on the outer perimeter, with the living spaces opening directly onto the access galleries surrounding the courtyard. This interior courtyard elevation is entirely clad in individually hand painted, fibre-cement panels transformed by artist Catherine Bolle into Le Chromoscope.
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Project
EPFL Quartier Nord, Student Housing
status
Built
location
Suisse, Ecublens
year
2008 - 2015
Client
MEG Ecublens CCR représenté par Credit Suisse AG Real Estate Asset Management SDRS 3, Zurich
Floor area
27658 m2
+ credits