Philo is a five-storey, ring-shaped science and innovation centre at Institut Le Rosey near Geneva, completed between 2019 and 2025. The building wraps a grand central atrium that functions like a covered public square rather than a corridor. Three concentric walkways and intersecting vertical and horizontal circulation paths create continuous movement throughout the interior. Helical slides and a sculptural spiral staircase make moving between floors an intentional, playful activity. The programme centers on student innovation, including a Fabrication Lab, a Start-up Incubator Space, and a reconfigurable Pitch Room for presentations or performances. Classrooms and laboratories surround the central void, keeping learning and making closely connected.
"The building, which took shape between 2019 and 2025, sits on the campus of one of Switzerland's most prestigious international boarding schools, right alongside Carnal Hall, the metal-domed music venue Tschumi completed for the same institution back in 2014. Where Carnal Hall curves inward with acoustic purpose, Philo opens up - a ring-shaped structure five storeys tall, wrapping itself around a grand central atrium that functions less like a corridor and more like a covered public square."
"That atrium is the building's beating heart. Three concentric walkways surround it, and vertical and horizontal circulation paths cut through the space, generating constant movement. Helical slides thread through the interior alongside the sculptural spiral staircase, turning the everyday act of moving between floors into something worth doing. It sounds playful - and it is -, but it's also deeply considered."
"The programme inside is built around student innovation. Philo houses a Fabrication Lab, a Start-up Incubator Space, and a Pitch Room - a flexible rectangular space that can be reconfigured for presentations or performances. Classrooms and laboratories fill the remaining floors, all oriented around the central void. The result is a building that doesn't separate learning from making, or thinking from doing. Every space feels connected, both literally and conceptually."
Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News
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