Smoking’s glamorous heyday may be over, but cigarettes are still a very big—upwards of $740 billion—global business. The industry’s third-largest player, Japan Tobacco International (JTI), recently unveiled a spectacular forward-looking headquarters in Geneva that marries cutting-edge building technology with serious design panache.
Situated in the city’s Sécheron business district, overlooking Lake Geneva, the new nine-story landmark was devised by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the venerable firm behind modernist icons such as New York’s Lever House and 21st-century supertowers like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Making the most of the wedge-shaped site, SOM conceived a triangular structure whose sloping sides only touch the ground at two points, while dramatic cantilevers at two of the corners open up passageways into a landscaped central courtyard and create a sense of connectivity with the surrounding neighborhood.
Inside the newly completed JTI headquarters in Geneva.
Adding to the building’s visual dynamism is its innovative glass façade, featuring a grid of faceted triangular panels set at precise angles. This double-skin curtain wall—each panel has a single-glazed outer layer and a triple-glazed inner layer—was engineered to maximize light and transparency while reducing energy demand in both winter and summer conditions. According to SOM, the structure, which also boasts a state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system, complies with rigorous Swiss Minergie efficiency standards and is among the most sustainable buildings in all of Europe.
JTI, whose best-known cigarette brands include Benson & Hedges, Camel, and Winston, has consolidated multiple operations in the 300,000-square-foot facility. The column-free, open-plan floors, conceived to enhance interactivity among the more than 1,000 employees, feature a variety of meeting areas and collaborative work spaces as well as a fitness center and terraces on the slanting green roofs. Running throughout the interior is a continuous loop of corridors and stairs—enlivened by colorful installations by artist Liam Gillick—that extends from the five-story-high lobby to a top-floor café, where one can take in panoramic views of the glittering lake and mountains beyond.
