Novartis - Basel Headquarters Campus Redesign

Basel Headquarters Campus Redesign

An ongoing Basel Campus Project has the aim to transform the Saint Johann site—Novartis headquarters in Basel—"from an industrial complex to a place of innovation, knowledge, and encounter". The pharmaceutical giant decided to transform the existing Sandoz office buildings and chemical factories of its headquarters in 2001.

The buildings gradually were demolished and replaced with works by architects and artists of international stature. Frank Gehry, Rafael Moneo, and from SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were among the architects and Jenny Holzer and Richard Serra among the artists. Marked diversity of forms now dominates the campus. Novel features and technologies were introduced by Gehry to conform to the building standards of the Swiss government that prohibit air-conditioning, while still selecting a contemporary style of massive use of glass exteriors. One adaptation by the architect includes the integration of a building vent, teepee-style, through the roof, which creates a chimney effect that draws cool air in at the lower levels and vents warmer air.

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