Research building Roche 98 IVR
Basel, Switzerland
Start of planning 2014
Commencement 2016
Launch 2019
Roche
Bau 98.
Overview
Architecture
Hammeskrause Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany
General planner
Pharmaplan AG, Basel, Switzerland
Team ZPF
Konstantinos Adamakos, Enrico Cristini, Heike Egli-Erhart, Jonathan Mazzotta, Sali Sadikaj, Flamin Tröster, Robert Vögtlin, Christoph Wallhorn, Andreas Zachmann
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Roche company premises in Basel was known as the ‘white factory’. It can still be characterised as such today. A light facade colour, ribbon windows and clear forms are typical aspects, which are also evident in building B098 IVR. With six floors above ground and four underground, this new structure is part of the research centre pRED. It offers modular and flexible work areas in a modern, timelessly elegant and functional architectural language.
During planning, emphasis was placed on efficient flows of people and materials, as well as on high-quality ergonomic workplaces. With regard to sustainability, great importance was attached to durability and recyclability in terms of the construction and selected materials.
The building looks monolithic, as the ribbon windows and white concrete strips are designed without offsets. The extensively greened roof constitutes the fifth facade. The open atrium forms the vertical link between all floors and provides additional incident daylight.
The load-bearing structure is a skeleton construction with columns and flat slabs made of in-situ concrete. For flexibility, the occupant requested untensioned flat slabs. Horizontal bracing is provided by the lift and stair cores, as well as by other walls in reinforced concrete. Building 98 is a new replacement structure for Building 61, the demolition of which was also planned and supervised by ZPF. In general, the site here is very confined, and this had to be specially taken into account during planning of the construction-site set-up, the demolition and the excavation.
The project was realised as a so-called ‘big open BIM’ project, in which, alongside ZPF Ingenieure, seven other planners and over 20 different software solutions were involved.