Cornerstone laid for tallest Swiss building
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has laid the cornerstone for its new Basel headquarters, which will be Switzerland’s highest building on completion in 2014. “Bau 1” (Building 1) is being planned by Swiss star architects Herzog & De Meuron.
The 41-storey earthquake-resistant construction will be 178 metres high, towering over Switzerland’s current tallest building, Prime Tower in Zurich, by 52 metres.
It will have 76,000 m2 of floor space and cost an estimated SFr550 million ($592 million).
It is planned that 2,000 staff will be able to move into the building at the end of 2015.
At 828 metres, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the world’s tallest building. The tallest building in Europe is the 310-metre Shard London Bridge.
126m: Prime Tower, Zurich
105m: Exhibition Tower, Basel
100m: Sulzer high-rise, Winterthur
95m: Hardau 1, Zurich
91m: Cité du Lignon, Geneva
90m: Swisscom Tower, Winterthur
80m: Swisscom Tower, Ostermundigen, near Bern
77m: Novartis Sandoz building, Basel
60m: Espacité, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
52m: Edipresse Tower, Lausanne
51m: Valmont Tower, Lausanne
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