Maison de la Paix, Academic building in Geneva, Switzerland

Maison de la Paix is a building owned by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, designed by Eric Ott of the IPAS firm in Neuchâtel. It consists of six interconnected sections called petals, each resembling a flower petal when seen from above. Petals one and two house the Institute's classrooms and offices, while petals three to six accommodate the three Geneva Centres. The building has a double-skin facade and is connected to the Geneva-Lac-Nations thermal network.

The first two petals were inaugurated in September 2013 with the annual Opening Lecture delivered by Kofi Annan, an alumnus of the Graduate Institute, and classes began there at the same time. The building was designed by Eric Ott of the Neuchâtel firm IPAS and completed with six petals; petals three to six house the three Geneva Centres, supported by the Swiss Confederation as international foundations.

The building's name, Maison de la paix, means House of Peace. Its six sections are called petals, and the signage inside was created by students of the Geneva School of Art and Design. The library is named after alumna Kathryn Wasserman Davis and her husband Shelby Cullom Davis, who funded the institute.

The building sits above the railway tracks leading to Cornavin station, and its double-skin facade shields interiors from train and city dust. The Davis Library occupies two floors of 4,500 m², with 300,000 books, 3,500 films and 430 journal subscriptions. The Ivan Pictet auditorium seats 600 and can be split into rooms of 400 and 200; there are ten seminar rooms, thirteen classrooms and a 170-seat cafeteria with a 60-seat terrace.

The building's exterior has a double skin: an inner layer with triple glazing and automated blinds, and an outer double-thickness glass wall that shields it from railway dust, since the structure spans the tracks leading to Cornavin station. Its signage was designed by students of the Geneva School of Art and Design.