The private apartments of the ambassador and the staff, plus the guest suites, are located on the upper floor, reached via the double-height foyer. Open galleries in this foyer extend the space and the lines of sight. The materials used on the building skin – ice-like flint glass and slate-coloured stained concrete – are an abstract reference to the mountains of Switzerland. The courtyards, bounded by light coloured facades, look as if they have been neatly quarried out of a dark monolith. Here the facades are clad with panels of translucent channel glass. Some sections are fitted with transparent double glazing and others are backed with opaque thermal insulation. At night the carved cube seems to glow from within. Square windows and large sliding doors complete the overall composition. The end walls of the building are of concrete, the surfaces bearing the horizontal markings from the offset boards in the formwork. A planted roof, the use of passive solar energy and sophisticated building systems achieve energy-efficiency levels comparable to the Swiss Minergie standard.
