Helvetia : expands and renovates Swiss head office in Basel

Helvetia has just submitted its application for a construction permit for Helvetia Campus Basel designed by Herzog & de Meuron. Work is set to begin after this year's summer holidays. By the end of 2020, the project will see the construction of a second building that is both a complement to and contemporary reinterpretation of the existing head office. The two buildings will be linked by a connecting structure containing a spacious and transparent auditorium, an imposing reception area, and function rooms.

The existing head office building dating from the mid-1950s will then be comprehensively renovated. The full project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2023 and will cost around CHF 200 million. This figure does not include the final stage, involving the construction of a new residential building on the northern side of St. Alban-Anlage, also to plans by Herzog & de Meuron. It will contain around 50 light and airy modern apartments for rent as well as guest accommodation. The large green area will be retained.

Driving the business forward

Helvetia has grown strongly over recent years, and with further expansion planned the approximately 350 new office workspaces will provide much-needed logistical capacity. Philipp Gmür, CEO of Helvetia, also sees the investment as underscoring the company's commitment to Basel: 'As one of Switzerland's leading insurance companies, we want to remain an attractive employer in Basel and further expand our business activities from both there and St. Gallen in line with our strategic objectives. Helvetia Campus Basel will help us unlock and further leverage that potential.'

Focusing operational processes at St. Alban-Anlage and Steinengraben will give Helvetia even greater flexibility. The open structure of Helvetia Campus Basel is designed to nurture innovation by encouraging inspiring exchanges and lively dialogue. The public space will also enhance customer orientation and proximity: the plans include a roof café open to the public on the new office building and an auditorium for in-house and outside events for up to 250 guests.

Prestige architecture and sustainable building methods

The revamp of the existing office building and overhaul of its infrastructure will deliver a major improvement in energy and resource efficiency. The aim is to obtain certification from the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) for the new office building under the platinum standard for sustainability, which takes into account not just ecological aspects but also sociocultural and other considerations.

A major investor and employer in Basel, Helvetia sees the project as a contribution to enriching the urban landscape and improving the quality of the St. Alban-Anlage site. For Ralph-Thomas Honegger, Head of Investments at Helvetia and member of Group Executive Management, this means that two aspects are especially crucial: 'The prestige architecture by Herzog & de Meuron will meet the need for a substantial improvement in operational processes and a modernisation of the working environment at our Basel head office while also responding to local residents' desire for an enhancement of their area, with shared zones in an open and appealing ambiance.'

Campus will create an unmistakeable identity

The ensemble of new buildings will give Helvetia a signature address at St. Alban-Anlage and greater visibility in the cityscape. 'The pairing of two buildings - old and new - will be a symbolic statement. Their outline will give the campus an unmistakeable identity,' explains Pierre de Meuron from Herzog & de Meuron.

The business premises at Steinengraben, the former head office of Nationale Suisse, are not affected by Helvetia Campus Basel. Group head office in St. Gallen is currently also being expanded and renovated, with the last section of the four additional new office buildings set for completion in late summer 2017. This project was also designed by Herzog & de Meuron.

Fig. I: Artist's impression of Helvetia Campus Basel (Herzog & de Meuron)

Fig. II: Model of Helvetia Campus Basel (Herzog & de Meuron)

Fig. III: St. Alban-Anlage in Basel today (Herzog & de Meuron)

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About the Helvetia Group

In over 150 years, the Helvetia Group has grown from a number of Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful international insurance group. Today, Helvetia has subsidiaries in its home market Switzerland as well as in the countries that make up the Europe market area: Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain. With its Specialty Markets market area, Helvetia is also present in France and in selected regions worldwide. Some of its investment and financing activities are managed through subsidiaries and fund companies in Luxembourg and Jersey. The Group is headquartered in St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Helvetia is active in the life and non-life business, and also offers customised specialty lines and reinsurance cover. Its business activities focus on retail customers as well as small and medium-sized companies and larger corporates. With some 6,700 employees, the company provides services to more than 4.7 million customers. With a business volume of CHF 8.24 billion,
Helvetia generated underlying earnings of CHF 439 million in the 2015 financial year. The registered shares of Helvetia Holding are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol HELN.

Cautionary note

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.

This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.