Roche inaugurates Switzerland’s tallest building

The Roche towers, Building 1 (right) and Building 2 (left), next to the River Rhine in Basel, September 2, 2022. © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Pharmaceutical giant Roche inaugurated Switzerland’s tallest building on Friday. The 205-metre-tall structure in Basel, known as Building 2, will house 3,500 workers.

The new high rise surpasses the firm’s nearby tower – Building 1 – which stands at 178 metres.

The new 50-floor high-rise office, with a total floor space of 83,000 metres, was designed by the renowned Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron; it cost CHF550 million ($561 million) to build.

The white, sleek staircase shaped towers can be seen from nearly everywhere in Basel in northwest Switzerland.

“Building 2 is another highly visible sign of Roche’s commitment to Basel – the city where Roche was founded over 125 years ago,” said Roche CEO Severin Schwan in a statementExternal link on Friday.

Tight planning regulation restrictions in many Swiss urban areas mean that there are few skyscrapers in Switzerland.

The construction of the twin towers in Basel allows Roche to bring together staff who were previously working in different locations across the city. Two thousand employees work in Building 1.

The pharma giant is continuing its investment in Basel with plans for a new CHF1.2 billion research & development centre, which is due to open in autumn 2024.

Roche is one of the biggest private employers in Switzerland with 15,000 staff based on four sites (two in Basel, and others in Zurich and Rotkreuz); it employs 100,000 people worldwide.