Firm： PHILIPPE MEYER FAS SIA

Type： Commercial › Exhibition Center Office Industrial › Factory

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2006

SIZE： 3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

How to decide what should stay and what should

disappear? Trying to retain elements at any cost

is only meaningful if its destruction is impossible,

be it from a political, financial or technical point

of view.

The SIP (Société genevoise d’instruments de physique)

was to be understood as an ensemble belonging to

a single clearly-defined spatial entity – in a condition

that remains unchanged today – and to be

considered part of a single functional entity that

no longer existed. What remained was a motley

ensemble whose quality lied in the recognition of

this condition.

Instead of attempting to homogenise the functions

and structures, the importance of preserving the

structural character that the location has gradually

assumed becomes clear to reveal the unique

character it represents.

The constituent elements of the original architecture

are primarily represented by the use of

concrete from the 1920s, the original date of development,

and in the use of the steel T-sections

for exterior carpentry, giving the ensemble a quite

remarkable unity.

Effort is made to retain these characteristic elements

without imitating them. Thus, destroyed or

walled-in windows are not reconstructed and instead

replaced by undivided window openings.

As the building is preservation-listed, strict compliance

with the thermal standards is not required.

Nevertheless, to ensure a certain level of comfort,

the maintained profiles, unsuitable for double-glazing,

are doubled using sliding single glazing in the

interior, covering the entire height and width.

Finally, a contemporary gesture raises the stairwell

to create a large skylight, capturing the light

and offering a view over the city.