early makers are individuals who can take their destiny in hand, who can be the leaders and entrepreneurs in their lives, while still taking a collective approach. They are a lively, agile force for the industries and services of tomorrow. To train them, emlyon business school is reinventing the learning environment by providing a setting that reflects the profound changes underway in technology and society, and that can be continuously adapted to changes that will follow in future decades. Designed by PCA Stream as part of a property development contract with Altarea-Cogedim, the early makers hub will cover 30,000m2 of a 2.28-hectare site in the Gerland district of Lyon, and will be directly connected with the local public transportation network.

A unique, innovative area for education and networking

Given that the real campuses of today’s mobile students are the district, city, metropolitan area, region, Europe and the world at large, the Early Makers HUB of emlyon business school aims to provide coherence to all these locations. Its focus is to provide excellence in a wide range of training in one place, a site that is accessible and open, at the heart of the city, and is connected to the rest of the world.

As it approaches its 150th anniversary, emlyon business school is creating new learning journeys in a reinvented space of 30,000m2 in the Gerland district of Lyon’s 7th arrondissement. The design and construction of the new site will be carried out by a multidisciplinary grouping led by Altarea-Cogedim as the developer, PCA-Stream as the architects, and Insolites Architectures for the construction.

It will be the first site to bring together both a truly great business school that is recognized for its academic excellence and a co-learning platform that is dedicated to students’ employability and the careers of the future.

A site connected to city institutions and the world of business

The early makers hub is completely open to the surrounding district. Competitive, flexible and open, accessible to the rest of the city, its policy will be to encourage flows to and from the hub, multiplying the opportunities for interaction so that a true community can be created. It will be an inspiring place to live, and to emulate, that students will be proud of; a place where they will be empowered to unleash their potential for creativity and innovation.

The ground floor and garden area will be open to the outside. This desire for openness will also be reflected by the presence of shops, services and spaces for digital technology or co-creation, such as the Café Jaurès and the showroom of Nouvelles Intelligences, both of which will be accessible by members of the public.

They will also help to make the district lively and, for the entrepreneurial community, they will position the Early Makers HUB as an ideal destination for specifically professional meetings and events.

An exemplary project for the environment and well-being at work

The early makers hub symbolizes the commitment by emlyon business school in terms of sustainability and eco-responsibility. Aside from its Excellent HQE and Very Good BREEAM certifications, the site will be highly innovative in the way it will encourage good, responsible behaviour by building users.

The early makers hub sees itself as a symbol of the ability to create experiences, the emergence of new ideas, the hybridization of science and the arts, and an opening up to different cultures of the world. By doing so, it will meet the challenge that teaching faces in the years ahead: preparing for the jobs and skills that do not exist yet, while at the same time managing a major ecological constraint – to no longer damage the planet that we will leave to our grandchildren.

The early makers hub will be an ultra-efficient building-cum-tool, that will be flexible and open, and accessible to the rest of the city. Its policy will be to encourage flows to and from the hub, multiplying the opportunities for interaction so that a true community can be created. It will be an inspiring place to live, and to emulate, that students will be proud of; a place where they will be empowered to unleash their potential for creativity and innovation.

“Every form of teaching has been translated into a physical space (agora, garden, high school, etc.), but a long tradition of isolation and verticality has made it challenging to find a way of providing teaching as a continuous flow.” Philippe Chiambaretta, architect of the early makers hub.

Bernard Belletante, Vice chairman of the supervisory board of emlyon business school and the project owner, said: “As the real ‘beating heart’ of our international network, the early makers hub will be a place for ‘flows’, interactions and experiences, a place that is constantly evolving where students, companies and experts will enjoy meeting each other, learning from one another, forming temporary groups to deliver a project, and sharing their experience and their knowledge with the general public.”

As Tawhid Chtioui, Chairman of the executive board and dean of emlyon business school, underlines: “For emlyon, the hub is more than a relocation exercise. It aims to reinvent spaces for learning and working, to offer a unique learning experience and to open up the school more to its surrounding environment. After the announcement of the fundraising of €100 million in investment capital, we have been delighted to raise €110 million from our banking partners and therefore to become owners of our hub at Lyon. All of this is testament to the enormous confidence that our various stakeholders have shown in the school’s plans.”

Emmanuel Imberton, President of the Metropolitan Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Roanne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, declared: “The PCA Stream and Altarea-Cogedim project offers an infrastructure that meets the highest international standards – while also responding to the aspirations of future generations of entrepreneurs, being hyper-connected to the world and the companies in our region. I am delighted to see that this project, which has been maturing within the CCI for several years, is today taking off!”

For Bruno Bonnell, Chairman of the supervisory board of emlyon business school:

“The early makers hub is redefining the learning space of the future, being based on flows. Urban, connected, and open to the world outside, it is the physical expression of a revolution in teaching that has been underway at emlyon business school for many years.”

For Alain Taravella, President and founder of Altarea-Cogedim: “As a business dedicated to towns and cities, our mission is to design places for people to live. With this hybrid, lively and modular hub, we are moving into a vital sector – education. The early makers hub responds to the challenges facing emlyon and will increase its appeal. We are offering future students a unique place here for experience, a place that is open to the rest of the city, where companies that invest in it will become part of the student community.”