Swiss exemplar - local government offices in Morges, Switzerland - Glass and Transparency

Architectural Review, The, May, 1998 by Peter Blundell Jones

Enveloped by a dramatic, shimmering, curved glass wall, these new cantonal administration offices in the Swiss town of Morges sensitively address issues of energy use, transparency, daylight and identification with place.

Morges is a small town with a castle and a well-preserved medieval centre situated on the north shore of Lac Leman between Lausanne and Geneva. New offices were needed for the administration of the canton, and as they were to occupy a sensitive site close to the old centre an architectural competition was held in 1992. Rodolphe Luscher won the competition, his design being worked up in 1993 and '94 and constructed from the beginning of '95, culminating in an inauguration in September of last year.

Lying just north-east of the old walled town, the site is one of those peripheral places where buildings are beginning to emerge as freestanding entities, but still exert a strong force on one another. Luscher's design was premiated above all for its urban strategy and clever juxtaposition of building parts, which relies on response to the edge conditions. Three blocks are asymmetrically arranged on a slightly raised podium. A linear four-storey block lines the street to the west; a short point block, also four storeys, turns the north-west corner; and the main curved six-storey block faces into the adjacent park. This curved block is the crucial gesture: its convexity is directional, suggesting expansion towards the park, and taking advantage both of local short views and longer ones of the lake from upper levels. Looking to the inside, the curve suggests containment and enclosure, focusing back on the vertical well which forms the building's communications heart.

Both the linear block on the street and the curved block contain the cantonal offices, The separate small corner tower is an adjunct to the neighbouring police station containing cells for prisoners, a part of the programme that was easily and conveniently separated off. The office wings meet around a central open well whose ends are terminated by two half-engaged oval forms: at the north end the open main staircase, at the south a stack of lavatories. The main entrance is via a ramp or staircase from the street, then across the podium and into an entrance placed in the gap between the two office wings, which leads directly through to the central lightwell. Where the straight wing continues in the outside world beyond the curved one, the corridor becomes single-loaded and is set behind a translucent wall of structural glass cladding, a contrasting reflective surface. The outboard metal fire-stair running diagonally up the side both advertises the emergency route to the occupants and enhances the compositional effect.

The most visually impressive part of the building is the double-skinned glass wall of the curved block, shimmering with reflections like the lake which it faces. This is also the key element of an energy-conscious environmental strategy. The offices are not air-conditioned, only heated, and the intention is that by manipulating vents and blinds the occupants can combat the surprisingly changeable Swiss weather to produce comfortable conditions. The double-skin glass wall faces south-east to collect the winter morning sun, whose heat is admitted into the offices by opening vents in the inner skin. Summer overheating is avoided by opening large vents at the bottom and top of the cavity, so turning it into a thermal chimney which draws air through. Vents into the cavity from the offices can allow air to be drawn in and out, and during hot periods these can safely be left open for cooling during the night. Louvres in the glass outer skin can also be opened opposite vents in the inner one to allow lateral ventilation. Protection from solar radiation via both glass layers is achieved with louvred blinds on the outside face of the inner skin. A thermal chimney effect can also operate in the central well, which is equipped with adjustable vents top and bottom.

The north-west facing office wing is not susceptible to summer solar gain until the end of the day, and has conventional horizontal windows. Facing a busy road, its vents had to be acoustically baffled, and in hot periods cross-ventilation is achieved in combination with the central well. The rooftop restaurant has its projecting roof for shade and cross-ventilation for cooling. In his report of the environmental strategy, Luscher claims that the rapid changes in the Swiss climate need to be anticipated if the building is to be used to best advantage.(*)It will be interesting to see whether in daily use the office workers understand their responsibility and can manipulate the building's environment effectively.

The cantonal office building at Morges is no run-of-the-mill office: it is an important, even prestigious development. Though employing an uncompromisingly modern vocabulary involving clear forms, strong applied colours, and shimmering walls of glass, it fits appropriately into its historically sensitive site. If the environmental strategy works and conditions are as they should be, it will be cheap to run and an inspiring place to work. Most importantly, it addresses issues too long neglected in the design of most office buildings: daylight and view, orientation and identification with place, understanding one's location and how to get there. Such matters, ignored in favour of the anonymous deep plan, heavily serviced office, now seem to be reemerging in the name of sustainability.