Over the last decades, the global outreach and the activities of the BIS have grown considerably. Central bank membership has doubled since the 1990s, the number and size of the international meetings held at the BIS have increased, and the BIS has become active in new areas, such as technology-enabled financial innovation. In the 1970s, when the iconic BIS Tower – designed by Basel architect Martin Burckhardt – was built, the BIS had about 300 staff. Today, there are about 700 members of staff at the BIS.
Over the years, this growth in size and activities has been accommodated through the acquisition of premises in close proximity to the Tower. The Bank’s current facilities are concentrated in two separate locations in Basel: the Tower and the Botta building sites. Nevertheless, the BIS is reaching the maximum capacity of its meeting facilities and requires more and differently designed workspaces that are adaptable to support a blend of needs.
Our vision is to create a campus that enables inclusive thinking, fosters agile working and sharing of perspectives, thereby fostering engagement and encouraging innovation and operational excellence within our community.
For these reasons, and to ensure sufficient flexibility to meet demands over the coming decades, the Bank is looking to modernise its facilities and move from a building to a campus at the current Tower site.
The architectural competition was a crucial step to find such a design and establish the direction the BIS wants to go with this project. We want to thank everyone involved in the competition, in particular the participating teams and jury members for their hard work, dedication and creativity, and invaluable input.
We believe the winning design by ELEMENTAL and Nissen Wentzlaff Studio will support the needs of the BIS and its stakeholders well into the future while also benefitting the city of Basel and its outstanding architecture. This catalogue serves as a commemoration of the competition and an opportunity to explore the proposals in depth.