On 18 September 2015 in Basel, Roche opened Building 1, its new office building designed by Herzog & de Meuron. It will be the workplace for around 2'000 employees. Construction works for the 178-meter high-rise started in October 2010.
The total costs were 550 million Swiss francs. Building 1, which is in keeping with the architectural idiom set forth by Roche, is the starting point for the further development of the Roche headquarters in Basel. This includes, among others, Building 2, a 205-meter high-rise.
Pierre de Meuron says: “The completion of Building 1 marks a milestone in a working partnership between Roche and Herzog & de Meuron which has endured some twenty years and more.”
Jacques Herzog says: “Building 1 exemplifies our position in the current discourse surrounding the problems of uncontrolled development, both in Basel and throughout Switzerland. In areas where there is already dense urban settlement, the aim should be continued, targeted densification.”