New laboratory complex: Construction is about to start - 250 million project at Roche

Created: 01/20/2022, 12:02 p.m

By: Wolfgang Schörner

The computer model shows the Roche factory in Penzberg and its buildings.

The planned research building, which is to be built on the large car park on the street "Nonnenwald", can be seen in blue.

©Roche

Roche intends to start construction of a new research building in Penzberg in the next few weeks.

It is one of the largest projects in recent years in terms of investment and construction volume.

It will be created on part of the parking lot.

The Penzberg building committee has now approved the building applications.

Penzberg

– In the Penzberg building committee, the building applications for the new Roche building called “Laboratory Excellence Accelerator Penzberg”, or LEAP for short, were passed without discussion.

It is to be built in the south of the factory premises on a quarter of the large car park, in a prominent position on the street "Nonnenwald".

The building, which is to have a wooden façade and a green roof, will consist of two parts - which is why there were two building applications.

One part of the building is for laboratories, the other for offices.

Both are connected by an atrium building.

The building heights of the two parts are 32 and 34 meters.

This roughly corresponds to the height of other Roche buildings.

The construction committee had already approved the excavation pit last July.

Roche expects an investment of up to 250 million euros

The work should start in the next few weeks.

Roche expects completion in the summer of 2024. As stated last December, the new building is the largest current project.

Roche anticipates an investment of up to EUR 250 million.

The company had already announced the plans for a new diagnostics research building in May 2020 when Prime Minister Markus Söder and the then Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn visited the Penzberg plant.

New laboratory building: space for around 830 employees

According to Roche, the new building complex will “create a workplace for around 830 employees, around two thirds of whom will be laboratory employees”.

Of the 830 jobs, 130 will be new.

The company explained that diagnostics research is currently spread across several buildings across the entire Penzberg site.

There is also a working group in Munich.

According to Roche, the new building should enable around 60 percent of all researchers in diagnostics at the site to work in one building.

This also lays the foundation for moving all diagnostics employees to a few buildings in the south of the factory premises.

Roche: "Milestone for the laboratory work of the future"

According to the company, the name of the new laboratory building "Laboratory Excellence Accelerator Penzberg" is intended to express "that this is an important milestone for laboratory work of the future".

The working environment in the laboratory is geared towards current and, as far as possible, future needs, “in order to continue to ensure excellent research and development at the site in a state-of-the-art working environment”.

Accordingly, the abbreviation "LEAP" translates as "jump".

According to Roche, around 400 parking spaces will be eliminated for the new research building, which will have a basement, six utility floors and a technical center above it.

The new construction of a parking garage is currently not being considered, it was said last year.

According to Roche, it wants to make do with the parking spaces that will still be available.

In this context, the company refers to its own mobility concept and to experiences with the utilization of parking spaces.