WTO - The Extension of the Centre William Rappard

The WTO is organizing an architectural competition for an extension of the Centre William Rappard outside its current footprint. The extension is to provide for 300 work spaces within a gross floor area of 11,000 — 13,000 m2, an underground car park with 200 spaces and a security building.

Description
The World Trade Organization – WTO – is an international organization whose purpose is to open up markets for the benefit of all. The WTO currently has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and employs approximately 850 staff members. It is located at the Centre WilliamRappard (CWR), rue de Lausanne. In its current configuration, the building is not big enough to accommodate the entire WTO staff. To respond to the Organization's development needs while avoiding a proliferation of annexes, the WTO has decided to concentrate all its activities on a single site by renovating and enlarging its current headquarters. The meeting rooms, offices and common areas will be renovated and upgraded to bring them into line with the activities of the Secretariat and Members.
One of the aims of this renovation work is to improve the utilization of space in the offices and common working areas. By using a more modular structure, many of the existing offices can be adapted to accommodate two or more staff members in better conditions. At the same time, more open plan office space can be made available for certain functions. Thanks to these measures, theCWR's capacity should increase from 650 to about 800 staff members. The draft master plan provides for the renovation, enlargement and extension of theCWR building in the framework of a single project.

Jury
Mr J. GARCES (Architect, Barcelona)
Mr R. YERXA (WTO Deputy Director-General)
Mr V. Do PRADO (WTO Deputy Chief of Cabinet)
Mr T. LYNCH (WTO Chairman of the Budget Committee)
Mr A. PEREZ DFAE (Ambassador, Host Country Division, Permanent Mission of Switzerland)
Mr M. MULLER (DCTI Geneva City Councillor)
Mr F. REINHARD (FIPOI Director)
Mrs T. GARCIA-GILL (WTO Architect)
Mrs I. CHAROLLAIS (Architect/City of Geneva)
Mrs O. DECQ (Architect)
Mrs A. STAUFER (Architect)
Mr M. BARANI (Architect)
Mr J. BUGNA (Architect)
Mr M. GRABER (Architect)

Prize
A total of CHF 270,000 for the award of approximately 5 to 9 prizes and possible mentions

Entry Fee
CHF 200 or EURO 130

Entries
Maximum 5 Boards (A0)

Language
English, French or Spanish

Submission Address
FIPOI, CONCOURS EXTENSION CWR
Rue de Varembé 15 – Case postale 13
1211 GENEVA 20, SWITZERLAND

Timetable
Decision: January 2009
Exhibition of projects: February/March 2009

Organizer
World Trade Organization

Official Website
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/cwr_e/extension_e.htm