MSF Headquarter

Transparency, Openness and Communication characterize our proposal for the MSF Camp de Base in Geneva, an eight-story building made of wood. The chosen material entails MSF’s values: warm, sustainable and accessible; furthermore, the wood may be gained from regional forests and production may set in place locally.

Camp de Base is a highly flexible infrastructure that accommodates the diverse needs of MSF. At the core lies the rigorous wooden structure based on a 1.4-meter grid which allows different programs. The building is designed in way that parts of the top four floors can be easily divided and rented by non-MSF organizations.

All communal activities are connected by a central route and are purposely placed towards the outside to show what is going on inside. Terraces of all sizes reach out on all sides and relate to the neighborhood and its nature.

The building reflects MSF’s nature of both diversity as well as unity. The Ramp functions as the back bone and unifying element of the Camp de Base. Like a main street on a small town, it brings together the different groups that make MSF.