Laboratories WSJ-355 Chipperfield-Building Novartis Campus

David Chipperfield Architects realized the laboratory building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, based on the master plan by Vittorio Lampugnani. Located on Fabrikstrasse, the new main axis of the campus, this building occupies a central, urban planning site at the intersection with the east-west axis towards the River Rhine.

To achieve high flexibility of use while at the same time ensuring continuity of the basic architectonic statements made by the building, a complex supporting structure was chosen. This features the two massive cores and a visible bearing façade located on the outside and made of prefabricated concrete elements which make a sculptural impression.
Between the two cores, the primary structure consists of a bridge-like bearing structure with a 27 metre span. The spacious area free from pillars created in this way is highly installed in the bearing position to ensure a flexible supply of media to the laboratories. The zone with a bigger room height along the façade, however, is used primarily as a workplace for writing, development and communication. The floor layout free from pillars permits a laboratory and office landscape which goes beyond conventional structures to create greater openness and better communication opportunities.

On the top floor, the office level, a garden courtyard designed in cooperation with the artist Serge Spitzer is located between the cores. An open staircase designed as an object in its own right by Ross Lovegrove connects the laboratory floors across the office floor to the garden courtyard.

The building is used primarily for complex laboratory work, but also accommodates a restaurant and a coffee bar at ground floor level, imparting an additional degree of urbanity to the building.