Roche Building 2

Slender design. Visible from a distance. At 205 impressive meters, the high-rise Roche Tower 2 stretches into the sky above Basel. In 2020, it replaced Tower 1 as the tallest building in Switzerland at 178 meters. 

With the new office building at its headquarters in Basel, Hoffmann-La Roche AG is creating space for around 3,500 employees. For Tower 2, the architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron opted for an urban design that, on the one hand, is based on the company’s historically developed design elements and, on the other hand, also allows the building to expand from the inside out. As part of a general planning mandate, Drees & Sommer planning consultants developed a coherent, innovative utilization concept together with the future users. The focus was on requirements such as flexibility, functionality, and quality of the working environment. 

For Tower 2, the project team was able to successfully utilize the experience gained from the previous Roche project, Tower 1. The requirement was to adopt concepts from Tower 1 and to design all areas as efficiently and flexibly as possible. In addition to overall coordination and project management, Drees & Sommer provided general planning services for HVAC planning, façade planning, energy and sustainability management, building physics, and construction logistics planning. The project team was also responsible for BIM coordination, the planning concepts for office and space utilization as well as the flow of people and goods and overseeing facility management during the planning phase. 

In contrast to Tower 1, which was handled as a 3D planning project, Tower 2 was developed as a BIM project. A virtual three-dimensional image of the planned building, i.e., a “digital twin” was created. This not only shows the geometry of the building, but also provides information on the materials used at the click of a mouse. The BIM model helped the planners to communicate better, coordinate all the requirements of the individual trades, and thereby avoid errors. Drees & Sommer managed the entire BIM coordination, including the creation of the as-built overall model. 

The 50-story office tower is also impressive in terms of sustainability: The glass ratio of 50 percent, solar shading integrated into a double-skin closed-cavity façade, and good thermal insulation all help to reduce the energy requirements. Residual heat from the site is also used for heating, and groundwater is used for cooling and heat recovery for the ventilation system. Furthermore, needs-based control of the air conditioning and lighting systems and precise energy monitoring ensure optimum building operation. 

Particular attention was paid to the selection of materials and the minimization of indoor air pollutants. The aim was to avoid materials and substances that contain potential risks for people and nature. The composition and emissions of around 900 building products were tested prior to construction. Creating healthy indoor living spaces was the top priority for Tower 2. 

Using the methods of lean construction management (LCM), the project was of outstanding quality, on time, and on budget and could be completed as planned in 2022.