Vitrocsa has lost its founder, but will continue to follow in his footsteps with the same passion
The management of Vitrocsa are deeply saddened to announce the death of Eric Joray, who founded Vitrocsa in 1992. He passed away on 3rd March 2023, on the eve of his 78th birthday. Shortly before Christmas, doctors had diagnosed him with a brain tumour. In the weeks that followed, Eric Joray made the most of his time, enjoying the company of his family until his death at the beginning of March, on the eve of his 78th birthday.
Greatly affected by his passing, the staff at Vitrocsa would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to their former director and retrace his journey and that of the company he founded.
From orchids to windows
Vitrocsa has its roots in flowers. In the 1980s, Eric Joray began planting orchids and, to help them grow, he decided to build them their own greenhouse, creating a design along minimalist lines. The greenhouse drew lots of attention, with many people showing an interest in it, leading Eric Joray to set up Orchidées Constructions SA to develop and build greenhouses and conservatories.
Initially inspired by a Belgian innovation, Eric Joray decided to develop his own system. He presented it at an exhibition where it caught the eye of architects. The project was launched in 1992, and Vitrocsa (a contraction of “VITRes-Orchidées-SA”) was founded. Eric Joray then filed the first patent for the sliding principle he had designed. From then on, all the innovative systems would be developed in-house by the same Research & Development department, with patents filed on a regular basis.
What characterises Vitrocsa windows? Vitrocsa systems can replace traditional window frames with near-invisible casing profiles. The result is this minimal window which has won over both leading brands and private customers, in Switzerland and across the world.
Global appeal, family spirit
Thanks to its huge success, which has continued to grow over the course of 30 years, Vitrocsa now exports its windows to over 60 countries. Although the company enjoys global appeal, the brand remains faithful to its philosophy of local craftsmanship. The company currently employs 22 staff and is still based in its original location in Saint-Aubin-Sauges, on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel.
Vitrocsa fosters a strong team spirit and, although it has multinational ambitions, wishes to retain its family atmosphere.
Eric Joray retired in 2015, but he would return regularly to the Vitrocsa offices to chat with his former employees over breakfast, taking an interest in the progress of the business, even giving a kindly word of advice on occasion.
Since Eric’s departure in 2015, a new form of management was implemented via a management buy-out, with the company currently being led by a five-strong management team: Vanessa Buffat, Jean-Marc Détraz, Sébastien Franchini, Hysni Muli and José Pereira. This team of passionate people have been working at Vitrocsa for around twenty years and demonstrate great loyalty to the company and to the values passed on by Eric Joray.
One of these values is to be at the leading edge of technological advances. Since 2015, Vitrocsa has continued to develop its products which regularly win awards and garner worldwide acclaim.
Eric Joray may no longer be with us, but the Vitrocsa spirit lives on, striking the perfect balance between respect for tradition and constant innovation.