Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron have completed in 2010 the Actelion Business Center in Allschwil, Switzerland. The office building provides 350 workplaces for employees in an open and communicative work environment with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing daylight to flow in and without ducts and piping in the walls so as not to create communicative barriers. The structure is composed of rectangular volumes that seemingly float and cantilever over one another like Tetris blocks. Sustainable components have been integrated into the design to operate the building's activity in a carbon neutral manner: the center is equipped with energy-saving features like self-shading windows to reduce the heat input from the sun, solar panels and also boasts grass-carpeted terraces that reduce stormwater runoff and keep the building cool. A part of the building's energy is also produced from photovoltaic cells.
For the seating has been chosen Catifa 53 chair collection by Arper which has received several awards for its low environmental impact: EPD (Environmental Product Declaration), Greenguard and Australian Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA).
