Audemars Piguet Manufacture
“Rooted in the site’s industrial past, the Audemars Piguet Manufacture initiates a transformation that is both measured and ambitious, where contemporary architecture is anchored in the memory of the place.”
Programme: renovation and extension of an industrial building
Clients: Audemars Piguet & Cie SA
Dates: 2021 - 2025
Status: built
The new Audemars Piguet Manufacture is located in Meyrin-Satigny, on the site of a former industrial building belonging to the pharmaceutical company Uhlmann-Eyraud, constructed between 1963 and 1965. This U-shaped structure—recognized for its historical value and acquired by Audemars Piguet in 2023—has been refurbished to accommodate the activities of the watchmaking manufacture. This reconversion gives rise to a place of production and exchange where industrial heritage and horological innovation meet, expressed through an architecture of precision reflecting Audemars Piguet’s expertise.
The project aims to develop Audemars Piguet’s new watchmaking manufacture in the Canton of Geneva, in Meyrin. The choice of site was driven by its strategic location, in immediate proximity to Meyrin train station and at the heart of the Meyrin–Satigny–Vernier industrial zone, a territory emblematic of Geneva’s culture of high precision. The opportunity also lay in the presence of a strong and distinctive existing industrial building. As a legacy of the site’s industrial past, it forms the starting point of a measured and ambitious transformation, where contemporary architecture is anchored in the memory of the place.
The project follows a logic of responsible and sustainable reconversion, enhancing the existing structure while meeting the specific requirements of a high-performance production facility. This approach reflects Audemars Piguet’s intention to establish a strong local presence, to control the quality of its working environments, and to embody its values of innovation, durability, and precision through architecture. The challenge was to create a new production tool that combines industrial heritage with technological innovation, reinterpreting the existing building into a forward-looking watchmaking manufacture.
The original spatial organization—structured in a U-shape around a courtyard—has been preserved and enhanced. Two extensions complement the existing structure, redefining a landscaped inner courtyard that acts as the project’s green lung. This central void structures the ensemble, connects the different entities, and establishes a fluid dialogue between old and new. A new building completes the courtyard, following a principle of interlocking: a contemporary architecture that grafts itself precisely onto the existing structure, respecting its proportions, rhythms, and constructive logic. Through this measured intervention, old and new merge into a coherent and continuous whole, where the original industrial rigor is combined with the clarity and precision of contemporary design. This architectural graft, both legible and harmonious, reveals the complementarity between heritage and innovation—a gesture that is at once discreet and assertive, allowing the Manufacture to find its balance between memory, functionality, and modernity.
Programme: renovation and extension of an industrial building
Clients: Audemars Piguet & Cie SA
Dates: 2021 - 2025
Status: built
“Where tradition and heritage intertwine with an industrial character and the demands of innovative production.”
“A contemporary architecture that attaches itself precisely to the existing structure, respecting its proportions, rhythms, and constructive spirit.”
Construction management : CCHE Lausanne SA
Representatives : Transphère Consult SA, CADatWORK, BIMLY, SRG Scherler SA, Philippe Tempere Conseil, Thomas Jundt, BIM Insight, Energestion, A3e / MAB, Sorane, ARCH AC, Ignis salutem SA, BCS, Alterego Concept, HKD Géomatique, MAB
