Architectural Contract Awarded for new Building in Allschwil

The architectural tender for the new Swiss TPH building at its new location at BaseLink in the Bachgraben area of Allschwil has now been awarded. Headed by Marco Frigerio, Cantonal Architect for the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, the jury selected the “Belo Horizonte” project by the Kunz und Mösch architect office in Basel and recommended it for a detailed review. The Board of Governors of Swiss TPH has confirmed this decision at the request of the Directorate of Swiss TPH.

For Swiss TPH, this represents an important step in the development of the Institute’s activities. Employees and students currently spread across the seven buildings near Socinstrasse in Basel will be able to research, study and work under the same roof.

Functionality and connectivity

The jury decided that the “Belo Horizonte” project by the Kunz und Mösch architect office combines functionality and connectivity in an architecturally impressive way and should serve to improve direct cooperation among employees in the various laboratories and offices. The building’s architecture will actively support Swiss TPH in its efforts to improve the health of populations all over the world – from innovation to implementation. The new building (floor area: 20,700 m², usable floor area: 12,440 m²) offers space for around 900 work stations as well as auditoriums, classrooms and a cafeteria.

Around CHF 90 million is to be invested in the planned building, which will be constructed at the BaseLink site owned by the Bürgerspital Basel and EBM (Genossenschaft Elektra Birseck) in the Bachgraben area of Allschwil. The contractor estimates that construction will take around two years following completion of the planning stage. This means that Swiss TPH should be able to move to the new building around the end of 2020. Only the tropical and travel medicine departments will remain at the current location on Socinstrasse as tenants of the villa “Zur Föhre”. Ownership of this building will be transferred to the R. Geigy Foundation. No decision has been made on the future use of the other buildings.

The anonymous call for project submissions was carried out by Itten+Brechbühl AG on behalf of Swiss TPH. A total of 56 teams submitted tenders. The jury selected 15 teams, including two young teams, and invited them to hand in their projects. The 15 teams all submitted their projects on time at the start of December 2016. The jury’s decision was unanimous. 

Exhibition of project submissions

The submitted projects will be on display to the public in the foyer of the Gartenhof school building in Allschwil from 23 March to 5 April 2017. The exhibition can be viewed from 3.00 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. The building can be accessed from Binningerstrasse.