Herzog & de Meuron Tower for Basel II

Two years ago the Pharmaceutical Company Roche, which headquarter is located in Basel, presented a high rise building by Herzog & de Meuron which would twist into Basel's skyline. The project was however abandoned by Roche, apparently because it conflicted with the company's program for that building. Roche continued to work with H&deM and on December 17th presented the "building 1" (Bau 1). It should offer 1900 workplaces and should replace the "Twist 2 Spirals". The company will seek building approval by the city. Roche's CEO says: "Roche needs a highrise office building in Basel. The spatial proximity of all the company's departments - R&D, production, marketing and directorate - is crucial for a successful cooperation. Therefore will want to recollect our 1800 employees which are currently scattered across the city and bring them back to the headquarter."
The building's color scheme is adapted to the existing at the Roche Campus and should be regarded as a continuation of the work of the architect Otto Salvisberg, who created the modernist buildings for Roche in the first half of the last century.
Along the said workspaces, a 500-seat auditorium, cafeteria and communication zones are planned.
The building will be 41 stories, approximately 175m, high and offer 76'000m2 space. Costs should be about 550million Swiss Francs. It should be an energy efficient Minergie building.

Via: Roche. Images here. Copyright © F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.