The new building has replaced an antiquated one on the company’s premises. Basically no questions of city planning were involved – especially since a clear-cut and rigorous building code was defined for the entire complex by the former in-house architect of Roche, Otto Rudolf Salvisberg. Most of the buildings in the complex are, in fact, very similar in architectural design and colouring. The new research headquarters fit into this context, but due to the street-front location of the building and the extreme complexity of its use (library, café, auditorium and laboratory), its inner life is more oriented towards the urban life beyond the Roche premises. The building acts as an interface between the city and the Roche premises, which were originally isolated from city life, somewhat like a monastery. The building thus signals a new beginning and also the new strategy of pharmaceutical companies once again to integrate place of work, place of residence and city life in the post-industrial age.
The nine-storey-high research headquarters adhere to the typical structure of open galleries, used as emergency escape routes and service zones. The façade in back is completely flat, smooth and glazed throughout. Offices and laboratories as well as larger public areas, including a five-storey library, an auditorium and a café are housed behind this façade of structural glazing. The different uses are visible from the outside through differences in depth and lighting, but also through the distinctive nature of the shades. The shades play an important role in the design of the building, lending its otherwise crystalline appearance a softness of contour. Unlike the conventional parallel arrangement, which almost slavishly follows the shape of the façade, the shades follow an irregular outline that reflects the arrangement of the rooms inside. The five-storey library, for instance, is treated as a single whole, which faces the public space of the city, specifically Solitude Park and the Rhine.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2000
