SwissTech Convention Center

46°31′24″N 6°33′50″E / 46.5234621°N 6.564013°E / 46.5234621; 6.564013Elevation397 mInaugurated3 April 2014Cost€110 millionHeightArchitecturalModernTop floorAuditorium A, B & CTechnical detailsFloor count3Floor area10'000 m2Design and constructionArchitecture firmRichter Dahl Rocha & AssociésAwards and prizes2016 Winner of the Best Swiss Convention Center - Swiss MICEOther informationSeating capacityFrom 300 to 3,000Number of rooms18WebsiteOfficial website

The SwissTech Convention Center is a conference centre on the campus of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

Building

The building was designed by the architectural firm Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés of Lausanne. It was financed by two Credit Suisse real estate funds for 120 million Swiss francs.^[1] The Credit Suisse owns the building, while the EPFL pays an annual rent of 6 million Swiss francs.^[1] This public-private partnership was criticised by the Swiss Federal Audit Office as "the conditions are unfavourable to the EPFL and favourable to the investor".^[2]

Financial support from the Swiss electricity supply company Romande énergie allowed the west facade of the building to be covered with panels made of organic dye-sensitized solar cell, also called "Grätzel cells" after Michael Grätzel, a physical chemistry professor at the EPFL and the inventor of this technology.^[3]

Events

Regular

Magistrale (EPFL graduation ceremonies)
Planète Santé
Forum EPFL
PolyLAN
The Brain Forum
Applied Machine Learning Days

Other

13 November 2015: The Moon Race
European Space Agency - EUCLID
Sport Accord Convention 2016
11 July 2017: meeting of the International Olympic Committee about the 2024 Summer Olympics, with delegations including Emmanuel Macron^[4]
24 January 2018: draw for the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League
June 2019: The 134th IOC Session

References

^ ^a ^b (in French) "L’EPFL recadrée par le Contrôle fédéral des finances", Radio télévision suisse, 27–29 April 2015 (page visited on 11 July 2017).
^ (in French) Nicolas Dufour, "Le Contrôle fédéral des finances accable l’EPFL pour ses bâtiments spectaculaires", Le Temps, 30 August 2016 (page visited on 11 July 2017).
^ "The SwissTech Convention Center, a lab for conferences of the future", press release, 3 April 2014 (page visited on 3 October 2014).
^ "Olympics: IOC prepares to award next two Games to Paris and Los Angeles", The Guardian, 11 July 2017 (page visited on 11 July 2017).