In 2024, the Smart Living Lab (SLL) celebrated its 10th anniversary. There were many drivers behind this grand project, which would not have come to fruition without the support of the State of Fribourg, EPFL, the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg (HEIA-FR) and the University of Fribourg. The first is the realisation of a pioneering vision for sustainable construction. The second is a desire to create a new form of interdisciplinary research partnership. The third is the transformation of a brownfield site into an innovation district complete with a state-of-the-art campus. The fourth is the arrival of EPFL in Fribourg. The fifth is a shared ambition to construct a demonstrator building like no other.

This publication is both a report on the Smart Living Lab’s activities over the past year and a retrospective of its first decade. It maps the main development milestones, the major joint achievements of the three academic institutions which work there, and the activities of the laboratories and institutes that have emerged since the Smart Living Lab was established.

The future flagship Smart Living Lab building will be an ecosystem for research and experimentation under real-life conditions and with the active participation of its occupants. The design of this unique low-carbon facility is the product of extensive research; these activities are summarized in this report. The journey from concept to implementation ended in 2024, paving the way for construction work to begin in 2025. With the facility scheduled to open in 2027, the Smart Living Lab team is based in temporary premises on the Bluefactory site.

"The future flagship Smart Living Lab building will be an ecosystem for research and experimentation under real-life conditions and with the active participation of its occupants."

There was another reason why 2024 was a landmark year for the Smart Living Lab. On 1 April, Corentin Fivet succeeded Professor Marilyne Andersen as academic director. Professor Fivet, who hails from Belgium and studied architecture and engineering there, left MIT in Boston in 2016 to take up a tenure-track assistant professor post at ENAC’s Institute of Architecture. He was also one of the first professors EPFL hired for its new campus in Fribourg. In 2023, he was promoted to associate professor. At the 10th anniversary celebrations, the Smart Living Lab team warmly thanked Professor Andersen for her decade-long service. The SLL will continue to honour and build on her scientific and human legacy by seeking out scientific answers to the most pressing challenges facing humanity in Switzerland and around the world. Its efforts will focus particularly on finding solutions that guarantee a built environment that is of high quality, accessible to all, and respects planetary boundaries.