Gmp Architekten: sports complex + urban re-design in lausanne

'sports complex and urban re-design' by gmp architekten, lausanne, switzerland
south facade with opening towards the lake
all images © gmp

german firm gmp architekten has produced the competition winning proposal for a sports complex and urban re-design of an area to the west of the city of lausanne, switzerland. the stadium's circular footprint contains all of the functions within one location, accommodating 13,000 spectators for a UEFA football stadium as well as a swimming pool, boarding school with special sporting facilities, municipal sports administration and parking for the district. an additional 10,000 square meters of residential and commercial units will border the iconic structure.

The placement of the buildings upon the triangular lot along with the design intends to link the separate entities while opening towards the nearby focal point, lake geneva. bound by arterial roads and a motorway, the reflective curved perimeter of the stadium appears to float above its airy base from a distance. placed behind the diffused facade, daylight permeates the ground level spaces. open and green parks surround the centerpiece, offering southern views to the water and panoramas of the alpine landscape. open to the public and local residents, visitors may cross a landscaped bridge to enter the complex and view activities within the arena from the outside.




bird's eye view from the north inside the stadium, the field is placed below an open roof, while the covered crescent section of the interior is reserved for the aquatic center. solar thermal and voltaic panels harness renewable energy while skylights introduce natural illumination.


interior view of football arena



3D-section


site plan


floor plan / level 0, football stadium and swimming complex

floor plan / upper level with boarding school





east-west section

project info:

architectural project and urban design competition: 1st prize, 2012 in cooperation: with jean-baptiste ferrari et associés sa design volkwin marg and hubert nienhoff project manager: florian illenberger design team: (gmp) kristian spencker, christiane wermers, florian illenberger team: (gmp) marleen michaels, tobias mäscher, christian möchel, claudia stelzmann, peter axelsen team: (jbf) jean-baptiste ferrari, sébastien zwissig, floriane robert, chantal billaud, xavier tauxe, james lee, rainer epp commissioned by: lausanne city council for all public facilities; private investors for residential and commercial units structural design: tensis limited (competition)
fire safety: cr conseils sàrl
landscape design: hager partner ag
transport planning: kontextplan ag
sustainability: transsolar energietechnik gmbh
number of stadium seats: 13,000 (football matches), 20,000 (other events)
swimming complex: 25 metre pool, 50 metre pool, 10 metre diving platform
multi-storey car parking: spaces 1,220 start of design process competition 03/2011, further design from 2012
construction start: scheduled for 2016
completion: scheduled for 2019

The “Multi-Storey Building” for Amman, Jordan

Although lacking an intriguing name, the “Multi-Storey Building” designed by Athens-based Kois Associated Architects has a very intriguing facade. Backed up against a living green wall, the mixed use building for Amman, Jordon, was designed after a study of Jordanian architecture, which informed the final volume of the building. A traditional block glass walled building is covered in a veil that has openings or shadings depending on the corresponding need for the program on that level. The veil acts as a boundary to the city, and the entrances on the street level are like gates into the building, providing a transition zone to those entering.

The mixed use building includes eight levels of retail, office and residential space, with the retail on the bottom, office in the middle and the top floors with residential flats. Office and retail space are organized like a traditional bazaar, which the architects considered a “paradigm structure of the merchandising localpractice, which comprises a vibrant hub for social interaction.” A main path works its way around through working spaces or stores, which like a path through a bazaar, which facilitates commerce. The top floor, which is the most private level, houses two single family flats.

Set against a green background of a living wall, the building is framed in the city and set apart from its surroundings, “responding to the green border encountered between the neighboring building blocks”. Vegetation also helps clean the air from city pollution and pumps back fresh air into the environment. The variegated facade with it’s openings and shadings allows natural daylight in and keeps it out where it is not wanted. Striking from the exterior with bee-hive like influences and a lush backdrop, the “Multi-Storey Building” could be an interesting addition to the center of Jordan’s capital.

Via CubeMe

Cocoon Lamp / Voxel Studio

The conceptual idea for the Cocoon Lamp design comes from drawing parallels between the PolyJet fabrication technology and the metamorphic behavior of insects. The cocoon is a shell, which larvae of various insects, particularly caterpillars, are building for their metamorphosis. The liquid secreted during this process is compared to a liquid photopolymer that is applied out of nozzles and hardened through UV-light.

The adaption of the construction and the clean design of a cocoon lead to the emergence of the inner element. Its geometry is formed by spun threads, which wind around the light source. The white and hard material “VeroWhite“ is perfectly suited for this construction, because it provides the required rigidity and disseminates, through its reflective surface, the light further into the space. A dark layer „TangoBlackPlus“, which is applied to the surfaces of the side of the lamellae, provides the desired color contrast and protects the surface. At its lower end a special fitting is formed, to which the holding element can be connected to.

This way the cocoon can be connected to the mounting element. This organic form proceeds in swings around the cocoon enclosing it. Being printed out of the PolyJet matrix technology, based on the mixture of  materials, results in a gray, neither completely stiff nor completely flexible construction. Additionally, very soft, linear elements follow the surface and assure protection, skid resistance, and a comfortable haptic, when applied around the luminaire. This can be turned, laid or hung up in different positions. The optical appearance or the desired effect can be defined by the user.

MoMA Chengdu / Studio Ramoprimo

Organized by the Chengdu Ministry of Culture and the Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group, the Competition for the Chinese MoMA was part of an initiative for creating a double ring of public facilities around the Tianfu Square in Chengdu. The first ring is supposed to consist of cultural facilities. The second and larger one is planned for highrises.

Designed by Studio Ramoprimo, the winning entry proposes a dialogue with the surrounding, drawing physical references from the existing urban and architectural condition. The basic idea is to enlarge the existing public space of Tianfu Square and make it “climbing” on the roof of the new building. The new museum is a group of volumes creating a small cultural city.

Two main axis cut the site area defining a comfortable pedestrian island where people can walk away from cars. The new urban situation is also establishing new visual and physical connections between existing parts of the city. People can pass through the plot and easily come from the Tianfu square and reach the surrounding museums. The four museum blocks create an arising slope on which people can walk, seat, play, have a rest, enjoy the view to the central square like in a open public theater. The whole shape according the function is rising step by step from the earth to the sky, while the ending corner of the building replaces the original position of the ancient and forgotten city wall.

Urban Parasite Creates New Types of Habitation for Seoul / Paul Tse

The project attempts to integrate the homogenous structure of public housing with the urban fabric by blurring out the boundary between public and private. It uses the example of Seoul as the architectural paradigm for a contemporary Asian city. The program of the project relates to a unique building typology in Korea called “Keunseng” (community building), which consists of retail spaces, after school classes, and various “Bangs” (rooms). Both are unique to Korean culture. Since there is limited space for leisure activities inside the apartment, different kinds of Bangs emerge to provide space for leisure and entertainment.

The design involves three ways in which Bangs are assembled. Each of them directly engages with a particular condition and at the same time, draws people into the in-between plaza where the most intensive interaction take place. Each building transforms its internal programs into a public plaza, activating interaction within the community. The diversity of Keunseng is therefore disassembled and reorganized into a larger context. It is deployed as an instrument for connecting the residential unit to the street, landscape and adjacent buildings.

By triggering the latent network between homogeneous apartment buildings the project rethinks the concept of urban habitation and reestablishes the sense of community. The bathing Bang penetrates through the apartment tower, creating a unique space where residents and bathing customer and interact. The street interface transform the typical Karaoke room into different typologies from typical room into loft space, to auditorium and final an outdoor performance space.

Algae Urban Farm / ecoLogicStudio

The project seeks to provide the Benetton Group with a site specific building prototype able to give material consistence to such a renewed model. It is designed by ecoLogicStudio, a firm mostly oriented towards combining new computational technologies with natural principles and ecosystem processes. The initial idea for the project was found in the “recycling” of past Iranian architectural models and prototypes that are still deeply rooted into the culture of the place and are, at the same time, providing solutions that perfectly fit local microclimatic conditions. However the contemporary business models demand an architectural and material reinvention of those traditional models to accommodate the new spatial and per-formative requirements as well as communication/ branding potentials.

The main local models recycled in the project are: the geometric Islamic patterns and ornaments, employed as organizational principles for the plan, facade and structural systems; passive cooling techniques, turned into an innovative system of solar control and screening as well as passive ventilationand ground cooling; thermoregulatory systems using the thermal mass of the building envelope and the ground, reinvented in a new “deep facade” system using water as thermal storage and heat regulator.

The hybridization of this new model into a new proto-system has been achieved by introducing a set of new components/technologies: fully developed parametric and associative modeling of the entire building, allowing a direct real time manipulation of form and internal organization in relationship to microclimatic, structural and programmatic requirements; an innovative approach to materials and systems engineering, where thermal mass, radiation control, cooling and on site carbon sequestration and renewable energy generation has been embedded in the architectural fabric of the building; this has been achieved by introducing the technology of algae farming directly in the facade and partitioning system of the building. This technique allows for real time adaptation of the skin properties; the facade will be an ever changing living system negotiating seasonal weather patterns and interacting with programmatic and socio-economic developments.