Occupying a plot of land just north of the Lausanne university campus, the cantonal archives were designed to be modular and adapt to collections growth. Architects Guy Collomb, Marc Collomb and Patrick Vogel of Atelier Cube conceived the facility as an elongated service building against which a series of square storage silos are arranged. Six such storage units were constructed by the opening date in 1984 and foundations were laid to further expand the site by up to 70% if required.

To the south of the service building are the public and service spaces, arranged in a quadrant like pieces of a pie. The curved exterior is broken up in sections that delineate their usage. Industrial windows mark the preservation workshops and sorting rooms on the ground floor. The public areas in the middle floor, welcome area, reading rooms and a small lecture theatre, are visually underlined by a section of the facade that projects outwards and is pierced by smaller square windows. Offices for staff and administration are on the top floor.
On the ground floor of one of the archive vaults is the caretaker’s apartment, which opens to a small private yard surrounded by bushes.
The red granite artwork standing on the meadow in front of the archives is “Le grand sanctuaire” by André Raboud.


The images shown here were taken in September 2023.