Today (17- 12- 2009) Roche is unveiling the plans for Building 1, the new office building that the company intends to build at its Basel site. The project, which will accommodate some 1900 attractively designed workplaces, is the alternative to the “Twist 2 Spirals” scheme that the company decided not to continue a year ago. It meets all Roche’s requirements in terms of functionality and engineering.

Work in the year ahead will focus on official approval processes, and the aim will be to finalise the legal aspects of the development plan and obtain approval for the new building.

“Roche needs a new office building in Basel”, commented Roche CEO Severin Schwan. “We are convinced that having all the company’s departments – Research, Development, Production, Marketing and Corporate – close to each other will be crucial in ensuring that they work together successfully. That’s why we will be bringing the 1,800-plus employees who currently work in offices all over town back to the main site."

“The new building is a harmonious fit with the rest of our site and meets all our requirements in terms of functionality and engineering”, added Matthias M. Baltisberger, Head of Roche’s site in Basel. “The new office building will enable us to offer our employees attractive workplaces and a top-quality infrastructure.”

The new building continues the predominantly white colour scheme that is typical of the Roche site and which has also been adopted for the research and development building currently being built on Basel’s Wettsteinallee. Both new buildings have been designed by Herzog and de Meuron and tie in with the architectural idiom defined by Otto Salvisberg. The new office building thus continues the longstanding tradition of high-quality industrial architecture that characterises site development at Roche.

The office high-rise in brief:

Functions

1900 workplaces
Auditorium (500 seats)
Cafeteria
Communication zones
Technical data and costs

41storeys, 175 m high
76’000 m2 floor space
Costs: approx. 550 million Swiss francs
Energy efficiency: Swiss Minergie standard
Earthquake-resistant construction
Timeline

Official processes and demolition of old building: 2010/2011
Scheduled start on site: 2012
Scheduled completion: 2015

About site development at Roche

Current site development at Roche Basel continues to be based on a planning strategy that guarantees maximum flexibility and allows the company to adapt to its ever-changing needs. The strategy aims to bring together the global and corporate functions on the site area south of Grenzacherstrasse, while the infrastructure-intensive research, development and production units will be located on the area north of the road. Apart from meeting operational requirements, Roche attaches top priority, as with all its new-build schemes, to upholding the high standards of industrial architecture for which it is renowned.

text: © 2010 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

image: © 2010 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd