The SwissTech Convention Center is a conference centre on the campus of EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
The SwissTech Convention Center is one of the largest convention centers in the Lake Geneva region and has served many major events.
The building was designed by the architectural firm Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés of Lausanne. It was financed by two Credit Suisse real estate funds for 120 million Swiss francs.[1] The Credit Suisse owns the building, while the EPFL pays an annual rent of 6 million Swiss francs.[1] This public-private partnership was criticised by the Swiss Federal Audit Office as "the conditions are unfavourable to the EPFL and favourable to the investor".[2]
Financial support from the Swiss electricity supply company Romande énergie allowed the west facade of the building to be covered with panels made of organic dye-sensitized solar cell, also called "Grätzel cells" after Michael Grätzel, a physical chemistry professor at the EPFL and the inventor of this technology.[3]
