Description

In 1994, Patrick Berger won the contest for the new headquarters of UEFA, the European Football Association, with a minimalist design, which captivates one with the extraordinary transparency of the building.

The attraction of the site on Lake Léman is particularly emphasised by the design determining element of a roof terrace extending the entire length of the building. For someone standing in front of the building, this roof terrace is exactly at eye level and thus opens a magnificent view of Lake Léman with the snow-covered massif of Mont Blanc in the background. This panorama is framed by two flanking glazed superstructures at the two ends of the building, the main volume of which dis­appears unobtrusively into the landscape.

In addition to reception rooms, the 82 x 27.3 metre building provides 110 employees with exhibition halls, meeting rooms, offices and conference rooms, which are accessed via a central, glass-roofed access hall. This hall, bathed in light and extending the entire length of the building, also gives access via a grand stairway leading down to the reception foyer, where the restaurant, auditorium and a ‘courtroom’ for the UEFA tribunal are located. The backs of these lower floors are set into the hill.

The principal architectonic theme of the building is its impressive transparency, for the envelope has been developed as a completely transparent climate boundary. Between the floor slabs, which are partly suspended and partly supported by bulkhead walls that traverse the building, the glass front stretches like an endless membrane, offering an unobstructed view of the lake.

Overheating of the interior is prevented by solar protection glass of the highest quality in combination with the building services. A translucent fabric stretched across the inside of the façade protects against reflection from the water. Heat pumps are used to draw supplementary energy from the lake. In winter they provide thermal energy, and in summer, they produce the energy necessary for cooling and drying the air supply. Through hydraulic circulation the waters of the lake are used as a cooling medium for the cold compressors then returned to the lake with an average cooling of 3 degrees Kelvin. The main source of heating for the building is an under-floor heating system. In the summer months, the cooling ceilings provide comfortable temperatures in the offices.

---

Originally published in: Rainer Hascher, Simone Jeska, Birgit Klauck, Office Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2002.