A concentrate of modernity and sustainability is the Les Saignoles factory in Audemars Piguetlocated in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel. Inaugurated at the end of 2021 after three years of work and designed by Swiss architecture firm Kunik de Morsier, it houses the company's workshops specialising in the production of complicated mechanisms.
It is a single-storey building of over 10,000 square metres, spread over several staggered levels, equipped with large bay windows made of SageGlass, an energy-efficient, electrochromic glass that automatically colours itself according to the intensity of light and ensures thermoregulation all year round.
Equally attentive to the human factor is the division and organisation of the interior spaces: the glass partition walls, which offer full visibility between the workshops and encourage communication, as well as the 'piazza' in the centre of the building, which offers the 190 employees of the factory a meeting place. The building also meets the requirements of the Minergie certification with regard to low environmental impact and modular interior architecture.
While it is here that the company's complicated watches are produced, it is in the manufacture in Le Brassus - in the Vallée de Joux - where Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet founded the company in 1875 and opened their atelier, that the other models are manufactured. This location is also home to the offices and the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet and the construction of a new building - called Arc - which will cover an area of 17,000 square metres is under way.
