EPFL Les Bois Chamblard

At the heart of an exceptional site on the shore of Lake Geneva, the Fondation Les Bois Chamblard occupies the former villa of Dutch meteorologist Erico-Charles Nicola, who bequeathed the property to the EPFL in 2001 with the aim of creating a place for small-scale meetings devoted to research initiatives focused on environmental issues. Built in 1935, Nicola’s villa had already been extended in the late 1950s. The option of demolition and reconstruction was ruled out from the start, given the villa’s symbolic value as the site of regular scientific meetings organised by Nicola during his lifetime and his explicit desire for the activities he pursued to be continued there. The process of intervention was thus focused on the renovation of the envelope of the house, whose character was to be preserved (in keeping with the recommendations of the Service des Monuments Historiques du Canton de Vaud), but also the form and presence of a new extension.

The villa was emptied and completely reworked in order to accommodate a spacious reception area opening onto the extraordinary ancient oak forest which surrounds it. Views through the forest to the lake are maximised by the introduction of a floor-to-ceiling glazed bay in the dining room. Catering and various other services spaces are brought together at the southeastern end of the villa off the dining room. To accommodate seminar meetings as well as public events for up to 50 participants, a new spiral-shaped pavilion was conceived, in keeping with the planning regulations of Buchillon and mindful of the need to limit the impact on the natural environment with respect to the villa’s ecologically sensitive location. The pavilion is linked to the original villa by an enclosed corridor leading into the spiral to reveal a perfectly circular conference room with full height glazing in wood-framed bays that imperceptibly fan out, expanding as the spiral shape of the room unfurls, minimising the potential acoustical problems of a circular room. Embraced by two “arms” of the villa, the new pavilion immerses visitors in unobstructed views of the densely wooded landscape beyond.