OFFICE Kersten Geers David van Severen to design new Radio Télévision Suisse in Lausanne

Belgian architects OFFICE Kersten Geers David van Severen faced stiff competition to win the new Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) building at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)/University of Lausanne (UNIL) campus in Lausanne, Switzerland.

After five months of evaluation, the 10-member International College of Experts (chaired by architect and professor Luca Ortelli) selected OFFICE KGDVS's "RTS Champ Continu" out of eight proposals from big-name firms like Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Bernard Tschumi, Lacaton et Vassal, and EM2N Mathias Müller.

The new 35,000m² media complex is scheduled to open in 2019.

"‘The winning project stood out from other projects,’ Luca Ortelli, chair of the jury, explains, ‘by its very original form and spatial invention, that reflect and identify the various activities of RTS (redaction, production, distribution, etc.), as well as many components open to the public (major radio and television studios, restaurant, media library).

The winning project fits perfectly into its context in the vicinity of the Rolex Learning Center, taking into account the existing and future buildings on campus, while forming a hinge between the EPFL and neighbouring UNIL campuses.’  

According to Gilles Marchand, director of RTS, ‘the original and modern building meets all the requirements for a good collaboration between newsrooms, radio, television and multimedia. Its design offers great flexibility in the organisation of work spaces and is an adequate response to the evolution of media. Finally, the site provides stimulating relationships between RTS and its audience and of course, the students and professors on campus.’"

Competition team:

OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen
In collaboration with:

• Bureau Bas Smets (landscape)
• Bollinger+Grohmann (structural engineer)
• Transsolar Klimaengineering (climatic concept)
• AAB J. Stryejenski & H. Monti SA (acoustics)
• Henk Pijpaert Engineering (MEP engineering)
• Bureau Bouwtechniek (cost control)