Introduction

SwissTech Convention Centre is a purpose-built conference and congress venue located on the campus of EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Operating exclusively as a conference centre, meetings and events represent 100% of the venue’s business activity. The facility is designed to accommodate large-scale congresses, conferences, general assemblies, exhibitions, healthcare meetings, corporate events, and trade shows. The venue combines extensive conference infrastructure, adaptable event spaces, advanced technical capabilities, and a university campus location, making it one of Switzerland’s leading conference destinations. In addition to the convention centre facilities, the venue also operates a neighbouring hotel offering accommodation for delegates.

Location

SwissTech Convention Centre is located within the EPFL University campus in Lausanne, one of Switzerland’s leading academic, science, technology, and research environments. The venue is positioned within a university setting rather than a city-centre, tourist, commercial, or residential district, overlooking the wider campus and academic buildings. The surrounding environment is focused on education, innovation, research, and business collaboration, providing an appropriate setting for scientific, medical, healthcare, and corporate conferences.

Delegates benefit from excellent public transport accessibility. A metro station is located directly in front of the convention centre, providing convenient access to Lausanne city centre and the wider transport network. Lausanne railway station can be reached in approximately six minutes via metro connections, while Geneva International Airport is accessible via rail connections through Lausanne. The venue provides 200 on-site parking spaces managed directly by the convention centre. Coaches can drop off and collect delegates immediately outside the main entrance, supporting efficient arrival and departure logistics for larger events.

Design

The exterior architecture of SwissTech Convention Centre is contemporary and innovative, featuring extensive glass façades and modern architectural styling. The building has been designed specifically as a large-scale conference and congress facility and reflects the innovative environment of the EPFL campus.

Internally, the venue maintains a modern and technologically focused design throughout its conference facilities and public areas. Open foyers, flexible event spaces, and contemporary finishes support large delegate flows while maintaining a professional environment suitable for international conferences and scientific congresses. The design prioritises flexibility, accessibility, and functionality, with spaces capable of being reconfigured to support a wide range of event formats.

Meeting Spaces

SwissTech Convention Centre offers more than 30 meeting and event spaces distributed across three dedicated conference floors. The venue is specifically designed to support large-scale congresses, conventions, exhibitions, scientific conferences, healthcare meetings, and corporate events requiring substantial delegate capacity.

The Garden Floor provides approximately 4,000 square metres of modular event space suitable for meetings, workshops, exhibitions, and breakout sessions. The Campus Floor houses the venue’s largest plenary facility, accommodating up to 3,000 delegates in theatre-style configuration with front projection capability, together with a substantial adjoining foyer. The plenary hall can be divided into three separate auditoria accommodating approximately 1,700 delegates, 450 delegates, and 350 delegates respectively, allowing organisers to create flexible conference layouts and simultaneous session programmes. The Cloud Floor contains an additional conference room accommodating approximately 450 delegates alongside a dedicated foyer area.

The venue benefits from a separate entrance and all conference spaces can be fully privatised for exclusive-use events. The infrastructure is particularly suited to congresses, scientific conferences, healthcare meetings, annual general meetings, exhibitions, and corporate gatherings requiring significant capacity and flexibility.

Regairding sustainability The SwissTech Convention Center is located on the campus of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale  de Lausanne (EPFL).  For decades, EPFL has been committed to sustainable development on its campus.

Bedrooms

SwissTech Convention Centre is not a hotel; however, it operates the SwissTech Hotel , providing accommodation directly next to the conference centre. The hotel offers 65 guest bedrooms located on the fourth floor.

Accommodation consists of standard room categories equipped with business traveller amenities including work desks and in-room safes. Standard rooms may also contain mini-fridges, bathrobes, and coffee machines, which can be removed upon request where required for healthcare compliance purposes. The proximity of the hotel to the convention centre provides convenient accommodation for conference delegates attending multi-day events.

In addition, The Starling Hotel is walking distance and have 150 rooms. Another hotel they work with is the Zleep hotel which has 120 rooms and is 2 metro stations away.

Restaurant and Public Spaces

The convention centre does not operate a permanent restaurant or standalone food and beverage outlet. Instead, the venue provides comprehensive catering services tailored specifically to event requirements. Catering arrangements can accommodate a wide variety of cuisines and dining formats depending on conference specifications, delegate numbers, and event objectives.

All dining and hospitality areas can be fully privatised and integrated into conference programmes. Catering spaces can support coffee breaks, networking receptions, exhibition hospitality, gala dinners, delegate lunches, and private dining events. Due to the venue’s flexible design, event organisers can create bespoke lounge areas, bars, hospitality zones, and networking spaces throughout the building as required. The venue’s public areas and foyers can be transformed to suit the operational requirements of conferences, congresses, exhibitions, and healthcare meetings.

Experience

SwissTech Convention Centre has extensive experience hosting healthcare and life sciences meetings and has delivered hundreds of healthcare-related conferences, congresses, trade shows, and scientific events. The venue regularly supports large-scale medical and healthcare conferences requiring significant delegate capacity, exhibition facilities, breakout programmes, and advanced technical infrastructure.

The convention centre maintains relationships within the healthcare meetings marketplace and benefits from its location within the EPFL innovation ecosystem, providing proximity to academic institutions, scientific research organisations, healthcare stakeholders, and technology-focused industries. The venue also confirms existing master service agreements with selected professional congress organisers and maintains experience supporting international scientific and healthcare events.

Fitness

SwissTech Convention Centre does not operate fitness facilities, gyms, swimming pools, spa facilities, wellness centres, or treatment rooms. The venue does not market itself as a wellness destination and provides no leisure-focused amenities within the convention centre itself.

There are no additional leisure businesses, retail outlets, gaming facilities, or entertainment attractions operating within the venue. The absence of leisure infrastructure reinforces the convention centre’s primary focus on conferences, congresses, scientific meetings, and professional events.

SwissTech Convention Centre is a conference venue and therefore does not operate under a hotel star-rating classification. The venue should be considered an unclassified conference and congress centre rather than a hotel property.

The venue promotes itself primarily as a conference, congress, and events destination and does not market itself in relation to tourist attractions or leisure activities. While live entertainment and music can be arranged if specifically requested by event organisers, such services are not a core component of the venue’s positioning or marketing.

A key consideration is the venue’s recognition as an award-winning conference facility. SwissTech Convention Centre reports having been recognised seven times as the best conference centre in Switzerland, and this award status is actively promoted. However, the venue’s overall positioning remains strongly focused on professional events, scientific congresses, healthcare conferences, and business meetings rather than luxury, leisure, or entertainment experiences.

From a healthcare compliance perspective, the venue presents a low compliance risk profile due to its academic setting, conference-centre-only business model, absence of leisure facilities, strong healthcare meeting experience, and focus on professional and scientific events.