The Montétan Foundation for Childhood and Adolescence is planning the construction of the Maison de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence de Montétan in Lausanne. The facility will host a new child and adolescent psychiatry centre, comprising a general consultation centre, day hospitals for children and adolescents, three inpatient units, catering and reception areas, meeting spaces, and administrative offices.

The program will also include a community paediatrics centre featuring a research and health promotion unit and a children’s activity centre.

The building is composed of four volumes set on a semi-underground common base, enclosing a natural courtyard area intended for the occupants and patients. An underground car park and inter-building connections are also planned.

The structural system consists of a monolithic reinforced concrete base supporting four buildings interconnected by bridges. The structures of these four buildings, based on a 3.60 m structural grid, comprise a reinforced concrete frame defining vertical and horizontal circulation cores, against which a timber superstructure is built. On the upper levels, the floors consist of composite timber–concrete slabs arranged on either side of central reinforced concrete corridors and supported on the façades by timber column grids. The transition between the upper load-bearing grid and the parking level is managed with a reinforced concrete transfer slab. Horizontal stability is provided by reinforced concrete stair and lift cores.
The structural design follows a reuse and recycling approach to reduce environmental impact. Timber recovered from the demolition of existing buildings is reused in the new timber structures, while crushed demolition concrete is recycled for use in the new reinforced concrete elements.
The buildings are founded on a raft foundation with deepened zones beneath the vertical supports. The subsoil mainly consists of molasse and moraine on the northern three-quarters of the site, with a shallow groundwater table.
The construction requires substantial earthworks. Excavations are retained using secant pile walls, contiguous bored pile walls, Berlin-type walls, and nailed walls, depending on local geological and hydrological constraints. The project also accounts for the presence of the LEB railway tunnel, which passes beneath the site approximately 10 m below the bottom of the excavation.
INGPHI and its partners look forward to delivering a building that exemplifies environmental responsibility and sustainable construction practices.