Hôtel de l’Ancre, rue de Lausanne

Project

Georges Addor and Jacques Bolliger skilfully took advantage of a situation at the corner of two streets: originally, the pure prism of the floors containing the rooms was located 3 m in front of the old adjoining building and was a small independent tower, with the basement area tucked underneath it. 

The basement area housed the entrance, the administration offices and two restaurants: one on the mezzanine floor for hotel guests, the other on the ground floor for the residents of the area. This part of the base structure has undergone profound transformations, including the destruction of the glass panel that let light into the restaurants.

On the other hand, the floors have retained their exceptional smooth aluminium and glass skin. Here, the architects inaugurated a new type of curtain wall, mounted in room-sized panels. This became the prototype for the facades of their later projects: from the Saint-Jean Business School to the Lignon area.

Christian Bischoff, “Hôtel de l’Ancre”, in Catherine Courtiau (dir.), XXe - Un siècle d’architectures à Genève : promenades, Patrimoine suisse Genève, Gollion, Infolio, 2009, p. 329