Roche Tower in Basel inaugurated
Pharmaceutical group Roche officially opened the new "Bau 1" office building at its headquarters in Basel on Friday. After completion of the occupancy, which is scheduled to start in October and end in spring 2016, around 2,000 employees will work in the building. At 178 meters, it is currently the tallest building in Switzerland.
"For us, the new building is also a clear commitment to Switzerland as a business location and to Basel" - Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche
"Building 1", which is also already known as the "Roche Tower" or "Roche-Turm", is part of a total 3 billion Swiss franc investment program by the company in new research and office infrastructure at the Grenzacherstrasse site in the Wettstein quarter. "For us, the new building is also a clear commitment to Switzerland as a location and to Basel," said Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche, at the opening ceremony.
Designed by Basel-based architects Herzog & de Meuron, the building cost 550 million Swiss francs and comprises 74,200 square meters of above-ground floor space on 41 floors. The Roche site development in Basel is to be continued in stages over the next few years. The development plan for the new research and development center, as well as for the 205-meter-high planned "Bau 2" and other buildings, has already been submitted, Roche said. (mr)
