Best headquartersLombard OdierSwitzerland This Swiss bank’s striking new digs prove that, at its best, corporate architecture can reflect the values of a brand, while enhancing the quality of life of its employees and clients. Sweeping forms in the Lombard Odier HQ (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 1 / 6 Sweeping forms in the Lombard Odier HQ (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 1 / 6 Natural light floods the building’s interior (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 2 / 6 Playful wayfinding (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 3 / 6 Rich materiality meets gently curving walls (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 4 / 6 Grand auditorium (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 5 / 6 Sweeping staircase (Image: Hannes Heinzer) 6 / 6 An outstanding headquarters should make a statement – which is exactly what Lombard Odier’s new outpost on the shores of Lake Geneva does.
“Is this what you think of when you picture a Swiss bank?” asks Hubert Keller. The senior managing partner poses the question while showing Monocle around his firm’s new digs. The arrival experience, for both staff and clients, feels more like pulling into the porte-cochere of a luxury hotel than entering the offices of one of Switzerland’s leading wealth- and asset-management firms.
“It’s more than a building,” adds Keller. “It represents who we are today.” The company’s ambitions were reflected in its decision to consolidate the firm’s presence, uniting its more than 2,000-strong staff, who were previously scattered across six sites in Geneva. An international competition was launched and Pritzker Prize-winning firm Herzog & de Meuron won the commission.
“It understood the DNA of the company,” says Fabio Mancone, partner and chief branding officer at Lombard Odier responsible for brand and business development. “We stand for integrity, openness and sustainability. We needed a building that embodied that.” The HQ’s façade is defined by thin, curved slabs and columns, making the most of the views.
“It’s all about light and transparency,” says Herzog & de Meuron’s Louise Lemoine. Inside, Paris-based Rodolphe Parente has created client spaces with a palette of timber and natural stone. Client areas feature private dining and meeting rooms and terraces with striking landscape outlooks.
Staff areas include double-height meeting and working spaces with terraces overlooking the lake and mountains, plus restaurants, a gym and a coffee shop. Equal priority has been given to both client and employee needs. “It has changed the way that I work,” says Keller.
“And our teams too.” lombardodier.com; herzogdemeuron.com; rodolpheparente.com Best trade schoolHåndvaerkskollegiet HerningDenmark A hall of residence built to inspire trainee tradespeople is working to plug Denmark’s skills gap by encouraging an exchange of ideas and expertise. Andreas Møller Simonsen (Image: Felix Odell) 1 / 6 Andreas Møller Simonsen (Image: Felix Odell) 1 / 6 Håndvaerkskollegiet’s exterior (Image: Felix Odell) 2 / 6 Laura Dahl (Image: Felix Odell) 3 / 6 From left, teacher Jesper Skovgaard Jespersen with Kjartan Korsgaard and Andreas Møller Simonsen (Image: Felix Odell) 4 / 6 Nicolai Nielsen at work (Image: Felix Odell) 5 / 6 A tool for every job (Image: Felix Odell) 6 / 6 Like many nations, Denmark is in desperate need of tradespeople: plumbers, builders, roofers, carpenters, electricians and skilled manual workers, known in the Nordic country as håndvaerker.
This dearth makes the recent opening of Håndvaerkskollegiet, a hall of residence for trainees in such fields, particularly welcome. “Part of the purpose of this building is to persuade young people to pursue a skilled-worker education,” its principal, Flemming Moestrup, tells Monocle from the new campus in the small town of Herning on the Jutland peninsula. The halls include accommodation with shared kitchens and living space, featuring double-height workshops for wood, metal and bricklaying, with state-of-the-art tools and machinery.
“The idea that the building celebrates craftspeople was very inspiring for us,” says Copenhagen-based architect Dorte Mandrup, whose studio designed Håndvaerkskollegiet. “We wanted to create communal spaces but, when we designed these small dwellings, it was also about making them dignified.” Around the building, exposed junctions, electricity systems and raw brick hint at the construction process. The structural frame of the building is made from pine; the doors and floors are oak.
Meanwhile, the interior panelling is spruce. The construction of the building and the lion’s share of its running costs is funded by charitable foundation BRF Fonden. In Herning, many residents are apprentices at local firms and attend courses at the nearby technical college.
They can choose from workshops and lectures that are open to all trainees in the evenings and at weekends: a carpenter can learn about the work of an electrician; a bricklayer can get a feel for 3D printing. “That crossover is one of our biggest draws,” says Moestrup. As we leave, he points to an incongruous brick fireplace in