Agora Cancer Research Pole

Behnisch Architekten’s first project to introduce a highly-sophisticated, geometrical fixed sunshading grid, the Agora Cancer Research Pole in Lausanne, Switzerland, aims to offer sun protection that allows practically unobstructed views of the environment while keeping the summer sun out, facilitating ambient light into the depth of the room and permitting the winter sun to partially enter the space.

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As Agora’s building mass is freely shaped with complex volumes, tilted walls and corners merging at geometrically complicated angles, with hardly any façade being vertical, individual elements had to be calculated and produced for each situation. The façade was computer simulated and tested for sun and heat protection, light enhancement and glare, proving that the performance of this newly-developed fixed sunscreen is much greater than any other fixed or movable sunshading device.

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