DSM strengthens the Basel Area life sciences cluster

Royal DSM is creating its new Health & Nutrition Campus on the site of Nutritional Products in Kaiseraugst. It will encompass modern research laboratories and collaborative workplaces. Construction is set to begin at the start of 2021 and the building will be ready for use in 2023.

The Campus will bring together more than 200 researchers from the fields of chemicals, formulation, application and analytics. According to a press release, this unites the research & development department with all other innovation activities and business functions to create “the company’s largest global innovation hub”.

When compared with the current situation, which sees employees split across three different buildings, energy consumption for heating will be reduced by 90 percent and electricity use by 80 percent. Transparent bridges will connect the new building and the main existing Nutritional Products global headquarters building. Local landscape designers will be creating a near-natural environment, which will “significantly enhance” the green spaces and biodiversity. The plan is also to incorporate a fully-equipped fitness center for all staff. The campus concept was put together by the Basel office of Nissen Wentzlaff Architekten.

“Our aim is to create a new center of gravity for innovation in the area of nutrition and health, and further strengthen the region in its significance,” commented Thomas Beck, Senior Vice President Innovation. With the construction of the DSM innovation center, the importance of the Basel Area life sciences cluster in particular continues to grow.

The global DSM Nutritional Products Business Group is run out of Kaiseraugst. Local production facilities include manufacturing plants in in Aesch BL, Sisseln AG, Lalden/Visp VS as well as in Baden-Württemberg and in the Alsatian Village-Neuf in the immediate vicinity of Basel.