After almost five years of construction, Swatch inaugurated its new headquarters in Biel in October 2019 - one of the world's largest wooden structures designed by the Japanese star architect Shigeru Ban. This building, which heralds a new chapter in the brand's history, challenges current conventions, just like the watches that are made here.
The winner of the Pritzker Prize 2014 Shigeru Ban, born in Tokyo in 1957, is known for its filigree structures and unconventional methods as well as for its significant contribution to innovation and humanity in architecture. The Swatch Group worked with the architect for the first time at the Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Tokyo, which opened in 2007. In 2011, his design for the new Swatch headquarters, the new Omega factory and the Cité du Temps won the Swatch Group architectural competition. Shigeru Ban was particularly convincing with its original and at the same time pragmatic concept and the ability to reflect the spirit of the brand in each of these buildings. He also took the existing buildings and the surrounding area into account and included them in the project.
The building
The shimmering, curved silhouette of the new Swatch building extends over a total length of 240 meters and a width of 35 meters. At its highest point, the facade measures 27 meters. The unusual design breaks with the conventions of classic office building architecture and blends harmoniously into the urban environment. The shape of the building awakens the imagination - like a work of art, the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.
The arched facade with an area of over 11,000 m2 gently rises towards the entrance and transition to the Cité du Temps. Outside and inside, different leitmotifs run through the architecture of the building with curved shapes, colors and transparency as well as the unusual use of classic materials and building elements.