Completed in 2012, Rolex’s production building in Bienne, Switzerland, was designed by Gebert Architekten and Strässler + Storck in Bienne and Caretta + Weidman in Zurich with the support of BG Consulting Engineers group. The 400,000 cubed meter facility houses the production of the movements of the watchmaker’s Oyster Perpetual collection. Before this site was completed, the operations necessary to complete a Rolex movement went through seven buildings in the Champs-de-Boujean area outside of Bienne.
The four story structure uses hallways and windows to give the building natural light, improving energy efficiency and providing a welcoming environment to employees. The photo above shows the light wells at the top of a spiral stairwell, providing natural light to the center of the facility. Their design is based on the shape of the gear trains inside the movement of a watch. On the rooftop there is a restaurant that accommodates 450 people and opens out into a rooftop terrace with a panoramic view of the land around the facility, including the Alps to the south.
With 46,000 storage compartments, the automated stocking and retrieval system in the Bienne site transports trays of components to workshops at a speed of three meters per second. This allowed the architects to create more ergonomic work areas for employees as local storage of components is no longer necessary. It also saves time and increases security, creating efficiency and minimizes damage and loss of components. The center of the stocking system is a high-security vault located underground. It has 14 aisles of shelves that can store tens of millions components in a centralized location delivered to 22 stations around the facility.
The rest of Rolex’s production sites are located in Geneva, Acacias, Plan-les-Ouates and Chêne-Bourg. For more information on all of the production sites, visit rolex.com.
