The focal point of Philip Morris International’s activities, the Lausanne site extends over a large sloping lot between Avenue de Cour and Avenue de Rhodanie. To the south, it commands a view that embraces Lake Geneva and the Alps of Savoie. The approach to the project mandate is determined by the features of the site. The new building takes possession of the slope, whose full length is punctuated in parallel fashion by stacked elements of various dimensions. A single linear and perpendicular structure connects the office spaces and links them to the northern and southern building entrances, which are separated by more than twenty vertical metres.
A succession of open courtyards lends rhythm to the whole and increases the availability of natural light on the slope. The façades create an inter-axis dimension 411 cm wide for a new office-type of 20 m2. They are designed on the principle of a post-and-beam construction with prefabricated and self-supporting components. The 1’500 workstations are arranged like traditional offices, as indicated by the plan, which conceives a kind of great office machine, at once sophisticated and archaic.
