Roche Invests for the Future in its Basel Site

Roche has presented development plans for its Basel site. Over the next 10 years, Roche will invest 3 billion Swiss francs in the construction of a new R&D centre for around 1900 employees, in a state-of-the-art office building for up to 1700 employees, in upgrading infrastructure, and in renovating the historic office building designed by Otto R. Salvisberg.

"Roche is committed long-term to Switzerland and to Basel in its dual role as corporate headquarters and one of our most important sites worldwide," said Roche CEO Severin Schwan, explaining the rationale behind the plans. "The entire value chain is represented in Basel. Employees from all parts of the company are making a vital contribution to Roche’s innovative strength, and we want to provide them with an attractive work environment. The new buildings will continue Roche’s tradition of elegant, distinctive and functional architecture.”

Many of the office and laboratory buildings on the site no longer meet present-day requirements for modern, sustainable workplaces and need to be renewed. Furthermore, even after staff move into Building 1 towards the end of 2015, some 3000 of the around 9000 employees who work in Basel will still be in rented properties spread around the city. Under the site development plan, a large part of the Basel workforce will be brought together in modern laboratories and offices on the main site, which over the years has grown around Grenzacherstrasse.

"The planned consolidation of the existing industrial site will eliminate the need to build over green zones", emphasises Jürg Erismann, Head of the Basel/Kaiseraugst Site. "Instead, Roche will be making more efficient use of those parts of the site that have already been developed but cannot be expanded. Sustainability is a top priority for all our construction projects. For instance, assuming a comparable number of workplaces, the energy used in Building 1 will be only one fifth of the amount consumed in 40-year-old Building 74, which is due to be replaced as part of the site development project."

The planners attached a great deal of importance to safeguarding the quality of neighbouring residents’ living conditions, ensuring for example, that buildings at the site perimeters will all be low-rise. High-rise structures — such as Building 1, which is currently under construction — are to be located in the inner areas of the Roche site on Grenzacherstrasse. Roche’s modern mobility concept, which was developed to encourage the use of public transport and bicycles, will help to keep the number of private motor vehicles to a minimum.