Roche Diagnostics

The Roche Diagnostics office building in Rotkreuz, Switzerland was the first in the world to use Closed Cavity Façade (CCF) technology, which has gone on to make a major contribution to the efficiency and sustainability of the world’s buildings.

The building, which is 68m tall, offers space for 630 employees who previously worked in different buildings. As well as a 6m entrance hall, the structure has office space, an auditorium, meeting rooms and a sky lobby at the top. The building also offers impressive views of the mountains of central Switzerland.

Brand: Gartner

Architect and general planning: Burckhardt + Partner

Specialist planning: PPEngineering, Philippe Petignat

Management of works: Demmel Bauleitung + Beratungen

Owner and user: Roche Diagnostics

The project

The concept

The multi-storey building is 33.5m long and 28m wide. The height above ground is 68m, with an oversized ground floor and another 15 upper floors. The first 13 upper floors are mainly used for offices, with meeting rooms on floors 14 and 15. Individual storeys are connected by spiral staircases, creating visual reference points and shortening distances for communication.

What did we do?

For the curtain wall system, we designed, engineered, manufactured and installed a double-skin Closed Cavity Façade (CCF). Clean, dry air is constantly supplied to the closed curtain wall cavity by supply nozzle – allowing for pressure release and preventing condensation. This comes from a compressed air system integrated in the rooms of the top floor. We also installed fully perforated 80mm-wide electrically-driven horizontal louvre systems in the curtain wall cavity for solar and glare protection.