Roche Headquarters
- Location
- Welwyn Garden City, UK
- Client
- Roche Products Ltd
- Expertise
- Architecture
- Acoustics
- Building Services Engineering
- Civil & Structural Engineering
- Interior Design
- Landscape Architecture
- Lighting
- Sustainability
- Completion
- 2005
- Size
- 21,800 sq m
- Cost
- £50m
Leading healthcare company Roche unified their workforce into a single headquarters accredited with a BREEAM Excellent status.
Cutting costs and emissions and unifying a workforce of 1100 colleagues under one roof. We worked outwards from a central covered street that gives a focal point to the building. The street connects the open-plan workspaces and includes a restaurant, health and fitness centre and library.
The resulting three-storey building achieved a BREEAM Environmental Performance Index of 10 out of 10 and an 'Excellent' rating. The design uses timber-framed curtain walling, ground-water cooling from boreholes and an ammonia refrigeration plant that is both carbon-neutral and ozone-free.
The lighting design complements and reinforces the architectural intent, providing a comfortable and stimulating workplace. Special emphasis was placed on lighting of key vertical surfaces. Luminaires were selected for their performance, quality and clean design.
