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An expansion and renewal of pharma giant Hoffman-La-Roche's Basel headquarters will see the arrival of Switzerland's tallest tower, Roche Building 2. Long known as a centre for pharmaceutical and chemical industry, the city of Basel has been shaped by the world's two largest pharma companies by market value: Novartis and Hoffman-La-Roche. Many of the buildings in Roche's HQ complex were built in the 1930s, making them dated compared to the industry standards for safety and sustainability today. This prompted the company to begin a renewal and expansion project for their HQ complex which included the construction of Roche Building 1 — currently the tallest tower in Switzerland — and the even taller Building 2.
Building 2 is planned to be a 205-metre office tower with 50 storeys and 1,700 workspaces available. The building, designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, encompasses a total investment of 550 million CHF. The tower design is unique, rising evenly from the base for a few floors before a series of setbacks reduces floor plate size as the building rises. Building 1, also white, is designed in a similar manner without the even rise on the bottom floors, giving it a more organically triangular shape. Building 2 is set to be completed in 2021.
Herzog & de Meuron will be adding a logistics centre to focus on sustainable energy consumption and will integrate the use of public transport and bicycles around the buildings. The expansion also includes a 1.7 billion CHF, 132-metre research complex that will house 1,900 staff and is expected to be functional by 2021/2022. These additions will significantly change the skyline of the city, since strict planning regulations do not allow for many skyscrapers in the Swiss republic's urban areas.
We will keep you updated as new information regarding the project comes to light. In the meantime, additional information and renderings can be found in our Database page for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
