Bibliothèque du Rosey

Founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal, Le Rosey is a private boarding school with campuses in Rolle and Gstaad, Switzerland. Centred around the medieval Rosey castle near the shore of Lake Geneva, the Rolle campus also includes several classroom and residence pavilions dating from the postwar period. Despite its futuristic shape, the building fits well within the folds of the college grounds. Contrasting with the cold aluminium cladding on the outside, many interiors are clad in raw OSB panels. The wall shelves are also custom made with OSB panels. In 2010, likely inspired by the opening of SANAA’s Rolex Learning Center in nearby Lausanne, the school directors invited a short list of architecture studios to participate in a closed competition for new cultural facilities. The brief included a 900-seat concert hall, music rehearsal rooms, ateliers for painting and sculpture, as well as a library. Winning over other proposals by SANAA and Tange Associates (Kenzo Tange’s son Paul, who now…