Baden’s 70-Million-Franc Answer to the Empty Desk

The era of packing thousands of anonymous corporate soldiers into rigid steel monoliths is quietly dying. When single tenants like ABB, Alstom, and General Electric gradually reduced their footprints in Baden, they left behind the Konnex—a 42,000-square-meter monument designed by architect Theo Hotz in the 1990s. The shift toward remote working nearly delivered the final blow, leaving the sprawling structure increasingly deserted as employees retreated to their kitchen tables.

Faced with eroding commercial yields, the property’s owners—the pension funds of Basel-Stadt and UBS—did what pragmatic capital must do when forced into a corner: they adapted. A 70 million Swiss franc renovation turned the isolated fortress into an open ecosystem containing apartments, a boxing gym, a medical practice, and green courtyards. The strategy aims to replace traditional office leasing with an all-inclusive environment designed to compete directly with the convenience of working from home.

Market forces suggest the strategy is paying off. Consumer credit bank Cembra recently decided to relocate its headquarters from Zurich to Baden, filling the refurbished complex with roughly 600 employees. Where single industrial giants once dictated terms, a diverse mosaic of IT firms, energy companies, private schools, and an outpatient psychiatric clinic now shares the same roof. Practitioners operating within the facility note that the vibrant surrounding infrastructure makes recruiting qualified staff significantly easier.

Skeptics from labor organizations argue that such elaborate business hubs will remain a niche, pointing out that no office amenity can eliminate the daily commute or match the quiet focus offered by a private home. That perspective, however, misses the underlying financial reality. Pension funds cannot generate returns for retirees on vacant real estate assets. Whether the modern workforce prefers an all-in-one lifestyle complex or not, institutional investors will continuously reinvent their physical assets to ensure that corporate space remains viable.

Written by Sandy van Dongen sandy.vandongen@alpineweekly.com