The Cailler Cacao Greenhouse is planned as a botanical and experiential centrepiece within the wider Cailler Chocolate Park in Broc, Switzerland. Planned within the historic Maison Cailler factory landscape in Gruyère, the greenhouse will introduce visitors to the origins of chocolate through cacao trees, tropical planting and a visitor journey shaped around cultivation, transformation and place.
Project Overview
| Project Type | Botanical, educational and experiential greenhouse |
| Location | Broc, Gruyère, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland |
| Parent Project | Cailler Chocolate Park / Parc du chocolat Cailler |
| Design lead | Studio Tim Fu |
| Local Architect | ARCADIE |
| Landscape Architect | Verzone Woods Architectes |
| Experience Design | BRC Imagination Arts |
| Wider Project Developer | Jogne Invest |
| Expected Completion | 2030-2031 |
The project forms part of the CHF 400 million ($510m) Cailler Chocolate Park, which will expand the existing Maison Cailler visitor attraction from around 2,000m² to nearly 30,000m² in its first phase. While the wider park is structured around restored factory buildings, chocolate production, visitor galleries and regional hospitality, the Cacao Greenhouse adds a living botanical layer to the route.
The greenhouse is conceived between the former mechanical workshops of the Cailler factory and the Broc hydroelectric plant, Electrobroc. Its role is to connect the agricultural origins of cacao with the industrial production of chocolate and the local role of Gruyère milk in the Cailler story.
Cocoa-bean forms set within the Broc landscape
The greenhouse is expressed as a cluster of rounded, cocoa-bean-like volumes placed within the landscaped setting of the historic factory site. Seen from above, the structure sits between the river, mature planting, pathways and the existing factory buildings, appearing as a new botanical landmark within an industrial and natural landscape.
Its massing deliberately breaks from the rectilinear language of the surrounding factory architecture. Instead of extending the formal rhythm of the historic buildings, the greenhouse introduces softer, ovoid forms that refer to cacao pods while creating a clear visual marker in the visitor route.
Against the mountain backdrop of Gruyère, the volumes appear organic and seed-like, while retaining an engineered clarity. Their ribbed structure and faceted glazing give the greenhouse a crafted architectural presence, balancing botanical reference with engineered precision.
Faceted glazing gives the greenhouse a crafted exterior
The exterior is defined by a glazed envelope held within a series of vertical and diagonal ribs. The visual language is closer to a faceted botanical pavilion than a conventional glasshouse, with triangular panes breaking down the scale of the curved forms.
Bronze, cocoa-toned structural elements give the greenhouse warmth and connect it subtly to the chocolate theme. The colour avoids a literal interpretation while still giving the building a material relationship with cacao, earth and production.
From close range, the envelope becomes more layered. Reflections of the mountains, sky and surrounding trees move across the glass, while the diagonal structure gives the building a sense of depth. The entrance views also show how the greenhouse is designed to be approached as a tactile architectural object, not only as a transparent enclosure.
A tropical interior shaped by light and planting
Inside, the greenhouse is organised as an immersive tropical environment. Tall cacao trees, dense planting, hanging greenery and planted walls turn the visitor journey into a walk through cultivation rather than a conventional exhibition display.
Natural light enters through the tall glazed skin and radial roof structure, creating an atmosphere that is both open and enclosed. The warm-toned interior surfaces soften the engineered character of the glasshouse and allow the planting to become the dominant sensory element.
The interior images suggest a careful balance between architecture and vegetation. Structural ribs, curved walls, roof geometry and walkways are clearly legible, but they frame the botanical experience rather than competing with it. The result is a space where visitors encounter cacao as a living plant before they return to the production-focused parts of the full development.
Elevated walkways create a layered visitor journey
The greenhouse is not treated as a single ground-level botanical display. Elevated walkways and balcony-like routes allow visitors to move through the space at different heights, looking across planting, down into the tropical interior and outward towards the landscape.
This vertical movement gives the project its strongest experiential quality. The route brings visitors close to the cacao trees, under the radial roof structure and alongside planted walls, making cacao cultivation part of the spatial experience rather than a separate display.
The route also gives the greenhouse a different pace from the factory galleries. It acts as a pause in the wider chocolate journey, shifting the experience from industrial heritage to climate, ingredient and growth before the visitor returns to the production sequence.
Landscape design connects the greenhouse to the wider park
The greenhouse is set within a designed landscape of curved paths, planted beds and open public space. These landscape moves help mediate between the expressive new structure and the more formal historic buildings nearby.
The surrounding paths guide visitors towards, around and beyond it. The building becomes both a destination and a connector, linking the river, factory buildings, gardens and public realm.
The landscape also softens the scale of the greenhouse. Low planting, trees and curved circulation help embed the cocoa-bean forms within the park setting, allowing the building to sit between the historic factory and the natural landscape of Broc.
A botanical counterpoint to the factory route
The Cailler Chocolate Park is built around the working factory, restored industrial buildings and the history of chocolate production in Broc. The Cacao Greenhouse adds a different but complementary layer to that story.
By placing cacao trees inside a tropical environment, the greenhouse introduces the ingredient before the industrial process. It connects a raw material grown far from Switzerland with the local knowledge, milk production and factory heritage that define the Cailler identity.
For visitors, this gives the route a clearer narrative. Chocolate is not introduced only as a product or brand experience, but presented through growth, climate, material transformation and production, with the greenhouse acting as the link between agriculture and industry.
Part of the Cailler Chocolate Park
The Cacao Greenhouse forms one element within the Cailler Chocolate Park, a major redevelopment planned around the historic Maison Cailler site. The broader project includes restored factory buildings, visitor galleries, a Chocolate Emporium, public esplanade, flying theatre, off-site underground parking, cable car access and a hotel offering at En Liaubon.
The future park is intended to expand Maison Cailler from a short-format visitor attraction into a larger cultural and tourism destination. The current attraction recorded 482,428 visitors in its 2025 financial year, while the expanded park is planned to reach 800,000 annual visits in its first stage, with longer-term potential of up to around 1.2 million visitors a year.
The greenhouse supports that shift by extending the visitor experience beyond factory heritage and production-focused galleries. It gives the park a living, atmospheric and educational layer that supports a longer, more immersive visitor experience, while deepening the story of chocolate production.
Key players involved
Studio Tim Fu is leading the design of the Cailler Cacao Greenhouse, with ARCADIE involved as local architect and Verzone Woods Architectes is involved in the landscape architecture for the greenhouse. BRC Imagination Arts is involved in the experience design.
The Cailler Chocolate Park is being advanced by Jogne Invest, which is responsible for the permit process and is expected to finance, build and manage the park. Its scope also includes the underground car park, tourist bus parking and cable car.
Planning status and timeline
The Cailler Chocolate Park has entered public consultation following the updated project submission in March 2026. The process covers a modification of the Local Development Plan, the creation of a Detailed Development Plan and ten building permit applications.
Authorisations are expected between late 2026 and early 2027, subject to procedures. The park is targeted to open between 2030 and 2031, depending on the progress of works. The current Maison Cailler is expected to remain open during the works, with much of the construction taking place while the factory remains operational. The Cacao Greenhouse will form part of the first-phase expansion that turns the Broc site into a larger heritage, production and visitor destination.
