Lausanne, Switzerland – 7 April 2017 –
Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) the world’s leading hospitality management school, has received the formal approval from local authorities to start the construction work for its future campus which will mix ecology, technology and pedagogy. The many additions to the existing infrastructures include sports facilities, a new restaurant with a capacity for 450 people and twice as many dorm rooms. After about a year of collaboration with local authorities, the plans have been approved and construction will officially kick off in the spring of 2017.
The new campus, which is set for completion in 2021, is the result of an unprecedented international collaboration. In line with EHL’s forward-looking spirit, a central idea was to include the younger generation in a long-term reflection by calling for proposals from architectural schools through a vast worldwide competition. Today, the winning students Sofia Passos dos Santos from the University of Porto, Portugal and Jon Irigoyen from the University of Navarra, Spain are employed by EHL and have become important contributors to the project, which is estimated at over CHF 200 million. The remainder of the team comprises architects, engineers and sociologists. They are working hard every day to find solutions which cater to the ambitions of a project whose aim is to be inclusive, in harmony with the surrounding nature and which offers an optimal learning experience to future students.
EHL’s future campus, which will be able to host some 3,000 students by the end of the construction period, has been designed in conformity with Minergie-P© standards, a highly demanding Swiss ecological label. While extending the ground surface of the campus by 34,500 square meters, the school is planning to equip itself with geothermal probes that will harvest the heat from a depth of 800m. There will also be a novel heat recovery system. Together, both installations will cover 90% of the schools heating needs. The new campus will also be equipped with photovoltaic solar panels covering a surface equivalent to three Olympic swimming pools.
An academic destination and an architectural feat
“As it has been the case for over a century for EHL, we strive to always look to the future and prepare for it today. To mirror the growing hospitality industry, our institution must adapt and grow its capacity to produce future hospitality leaders. This is why we have also recently extended and modernized our academic offer over the course of this last year”, explained Michel Rochat, CEO of EHL Group. Maxime Medina, Chief Asset Management Officer of EHL Group added that “we are proud to apply, through this project, what we endeavor to teach our students. We are also very happy to multiply the possible extracurricular activities offered to students, after the initial phase which saw the academic quarters extended. This new campus will embody an inspiring work-life balance to our students and will, without a doubt, become an example for other institutions”.
Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) is an ambassador for traditional Swiss hospitality and has been a pioneer in hospitality education since 1893. It has created and inspired a unique professional community of over 25,000 hospitality managers, united by the values and the legacy of EHL. EHL is a leading university that provides learning solutions for enthusiastic, talented and ambitious students from 106 different countries. With undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs, EHL offers its students a range of on-campus and online education opportunities at different stages of their professional journey. EHL is regularly recognized as the best hotel management school in the world with the highest graduate employment rates in the industry. EHL is a member of EHL Holding SA, a Group dedicated to hospitality management education.