A Hub for anticipating the future
“An innovative real estate project that supports a disruptive educational model.” On Wednesday June 19, emlyon business school unveiled its future site in the heart of metropolitan Lyon: the Early Makers Hub. This €110 million project will cover 30,000m2 of a 2.28-hectare site in the Gerland district, complete with local public transportation links. But please don’t call it a campus. Because the new building will not have that name. “We don’t want to use the word ‘campus’ anymore, because a campus is something closed off, it operates like a silo,” says Bernard Belletante, Deputy Chairman of the school’s Supervisory Board. Instead, it will be something new — a place for innovating, exchanging ideas, networking and, above all, for anticipating the future.
Anticipating the careers and education of tomorrow
For Tawhid Chtioui, Dean of emlyon business school, “We don’t know what 30% of the jobs of 2020 will be. And even for the jobs that will be created between then and now, the skills required to perform them will not be the same.” As a result, the ways of learning will also need to evolve if they are to reflect the characteristics of today’s online generations, Gen Y and Gen Z, and the current trend of disruptive technology. It’s equally important to bear in mind that “today’s students will change jobs and environment a dozen times during their future careers.”
Along with the digitalization of education — a process that is already underway for the school’s current programs — the new hub will also be an inspirational place for students to live and to share their ideas with others. It will enable them to unleash their powers of creativity and innovation. Agility will be at the heart of the project, making the hub a symbol of creativity — for new experiences, the emergence of new ideas, the hybridization of science and the arts, and an openness towards the world’s different cultures.
Anticipating the working methods and environmental practices of the future
“This place will look like a school from 2040, not one from 2022,” said Tawhid Chtioui on the eve of the presentation of the project, during the second start-up Challenges. That prediction was confirmed a day later during the presentation. The Excellent HQE and Very Good BREEAM certifications clearly underlined emlyon business school’s commitment to sustainability and eco-responsibility.
Above all, the pictures shown by the architect demonstrated that the experience gained from Silex, the teaching innovation laboratory located at Part-Dieu, will be put to good use — and even expanded. Modular, hybrid and flexible spaces will be provided, making it easier to have discussions and to exchange ideas — for the benefit of both teaching and the learning experience. The recently-published 2019 HappyIndex®AtWork reveals that , for employees, well-being can be summed up in a single word: choosing. That covers the tools needed to perform a task, the people, and the place to actually do the work.
Anticipating the demand from companies, and the world in general
Completely open to the neighboring district, and accessible for the rest of the city, the Early Makers Hub is based on a policy of encouraging flows to and from the hub, of increasing interactions with the local environment — thereby creating a genuine community. The ground floor and garden areas will be deliberately made open to the exterior, offering a combination of retail units, services, digital spaces and co-creation. With nearly 70% of the walls being in glass, this new building will be truly open to the people of Lyon and the partners of emlyon business school.
“This site will become a major university center, located near company facilities, just like in Boston,” commented Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon, during the presentation of the project. Emmanuel Imberton, President of CCI Lyon Métropole Saint-Etienne Roanne, Bruno Bonnell, Chairman of emlyon’s Supervisory Board and David Kimelfeld, President of Métropole de Lyon were also present.
The new site is scheduled to be inaugurated in September 2022. As luck would have it, the date coincides with the 150th anniversary of emlyon business school…
PS: this article was written at Silex in three different locations, each one a source of inspiration: an armchair on wheels, a pouffe, and an office created from Pixel cubes.
