In 2012, the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, released an architectural competition for a new development to be built on the escarpment between the university hospital (CHUV) and the narrow Flon river valley underneath. The brief for the mixed use project called for controlled rent apartments to be built on top of two water reservoirs operated by the city on this elevated location. Furthermore, the new development was to meet strict sustainability standards, as well as protect its inhabitants against the noise from the busy neighbouring avenue and hospital traffic. The winning proposal by Monnerat Petitpierre Hunger (MPH) Architectes, aptly dubbed CLIFF, brilliantly met the requirements while preserving visual openings to the famously grandiose Lausanne panorama for inhabitants and passersby alike.
Early in the project, the University of Lausanne medical library (BiUM) expressed interest in upgrading from its then location within the CHUV hospital complex. A section of the pedestal, initially meant for retail, was thus repurposed for the library which moved there at the completion of the project in November 2019.
The library is installed on three levels opening to the south facade, which is lined with wraparound balconies connected by exterior stairs. The spaces occupied by the library having initially be designed for retail, getting enough natural light all the way to the back was a challenge. The architects thus added two light wells bringing light down from the large rooftop terrace overhead to all three levels of the library.
Initially a research library, the BiUM nowadays mostly serves as a work location for students attending the medical school, which is located within the hospital complex away from the main university campus. Consequently, bookshelves are conspicuously rare inside the new library, besides a few low shelves holding reference works on the top floor. Even those see little use, their presence being rumoured to have been granted more to humour the architects expecting to at least see some books in the library they had designed than for the benefit of students… Instead, most of the documents remaining on the premises are stored in compact shelving. A selection of periodicals and a leisure read section near the entrance was however maintained to encourage students to divert from their stressful studies for a quick reading break, a strategy that appears to be working, as the section is proving popular!
Despite the new facilities, space remains a premium for the many medical students. Certain floors are thus reserved for 2nd year and higher graduates. A set of rooms at the back of the library are also used for group work during the semester. On the top floor, a closed room with comfortable chairs provide another restful spot for busy students, who are invited to rest or take in the expansive view towards the lake and the French Alps.
The images shown here date from my short visit in August 2022, taking advantage of the summer break to avoid disturbing too many students, which explains the nearly empty facilities. Thank you to my librarian friend Manuèle for leading me on a tour of her library on her last day of work!
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