The Roche Building 1 is a 178-metre-high office tower located on the headquarters campus of F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel. Completed in 2015, the building was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and forms a central component of Roche’s long-term masterplan for the transformation of its global headquarters site along Grenzacherstrasse.

The tower rises to 178 metres and comprises 41 above-ground floors, making it one of the tallest buildings in Switzerland. It accommodates Roche’s global corporate headquarters functions and consolidates administrative and executive workplaces within a single vertical structure.

Architecturally, the building is defined by a stacked and incrementally offset volumetric composition, producing a stepped profile that reduces the perceived mass of the tower while maintaining efficient internal office layouts. This formal strategy also improves daylight penetration into deep-plan office areas, enhancing workplace quality within the high-rise environment.

The design by Herzog & de Meuron reflects a broader architectural approach focused on combining high-density corporate functionality with sculptural form-making. The building’s massing responds both to internal spatial requirements and to its urban context, where it acts as a vertical marker at the edge of the Roche campus facing the city of Basel.

Roche Building 1 is part of a structured campus development strategy initiated in the mid-2000s, which reorganizes the site into distinct functional zones. The northern area is dedicated to research and development, while the southern sector – where the tower is located – concentrates corporate headquarters functions. This planning logic introduces long-term spatial clarity and supports the gradual replacement and redevelopment of older industrial structures on the site.

With an approximate gross floor area of around 74,000 m², the building represents a significant concentration of corporate workspace within a single high-rise volume. Its completion in 2015 marked a major milestone in Roche’s transition toward a vertically organized headquarters campus, reinforcing Basel’s position as a key center for contemporary corporate architecture.

All image courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron, unless otherwise stated.