Dario Tonelli founded the company Laborplaner Tonelli AG in 2004 and has managed the company since. After completing his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker, he obtained a degree in project management from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).
Dario Tonelli has gained a lot of experience over the years, and today Laborplaner Tonelli AG is one of the most innovative and experienced lab planning companies in Switzerland.
Continuous innovation in planning methods and laboratory solutions is at the heart of the company’s business model, which further focuses, among other things, on modular planning, transparency and visual communication in making the laboratory more understandable, efficiency in logistics, and laboratory planning processes.
Product-independent planning for lab facilities in the field of industry, research, medicine and education is now the core business of the company.
From its base near Basel, Laborplaner Tonelli AG conducts surveys and orders not only in Switzerland but worldwide. Its clients include companies such as F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Novartis Pharma AG, universities, hospitals and government institutions.
Dario is a member of the European Association for Sustainable Laboratories (EGNATON) and a member of the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA).
Bachelor of Arts in Interior Architecture from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Dominik Bieri began his career with an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker in 2005. After his apprenticeship, he worked for a short time as a carpenter before completing compulsory military service. Dominik then continued his studies at a vocational secondary school, followed by a BA in interior architecture. He has been working as a project manager at Laborplaner Tonelli AG since autumn 2015. In spring 2020, Dominik will add a diploma of advanced studies in construction management, because he considers a healthy balance between theory and practice to be extremely important.
In his position as project manager, he deals with the planning and construction of lab buildings for pharmaceutical companies, universities and national research facilities. In addition to his tasks as a project manager, he gives support to the company with the development of tools, aimed to make the planning process more efficient and sustainable. Today his main interest is planning laboratory projects, from construction through to operation, with a key focus on sustainability. Besides economic and ecological interests, this also covers the social aspect, including the wellbeing of the user community at the planned workplace, which is ultimately reflected in motivation and enjoyment of daily work at the laboratory.
The projects Laborplaner Tonelli AG participated in
Project: Balgrist Campus, Zürich, Switzerland
Gross floor area: 8,674 m2
Planning / realization: 2011 - 2015
The Balgrist Campus is a research facility for musculoskeletal medicine. The new building has a direct connection with the University Hospital of Balgrist, so the highest priority was a productive cooperation and exchange of knowledge between professors, doctors, engineers and students from different areas of expertise / medical specialities / fields of medicine. The planning of the building includes research groups in the fields of tumor and metastasis, muscles, biomechanics, paraplegia and clinical orthopedics. In order to promote the exchange of knowledge, in the Balgrist campus the “wet laboratories”, the “dry laboratories” and the office spaces were grouped according to the different activities and placed on different floors. The laboratory concept was consistently implemented with modern laboratory standards, based on an optimally functional "Open Space Lab". The goal was to provide the user an open, unrestricted and thus contemporary working atmosphere, which has a positive effect on communication and wellbeing.
Project: BaseLink Innovationspark Allschwil, Switzerland
Building area: 40,000 m2
Planning / realization: 2015 – 2022
The purpose of the “BaseLink Innovationspark” is to offer interested start-up companies an excellent infrastructure for research and development in the field of science, while at the same time offering great flexibility and adaptability to individual needs. In particular, however, the project also offers the opportunity to create an attractive place to work, one that promotes the exchange of ideas among researchers. This sets it apart from the usual concept of an innovation park.
Visitors as well as laboratory employees should feel an emotional attraction and a sense of well-being when entering the “BaseLink Innovationspark”. It is very open and transparent, with far-sighted visual references that allow for easy orientation inside the building. Visual and physical connections are maximised horizontally and vertically to promote networking within the building and interaction among the start-up companies and the laboratory staff.
In addition, it also aims to be a hotspot for start-ups, which can implement their innovative business ideas with the goal of growing rapidly and achieving a high value. The building consists of a ground floor, two basement floors and seven upper floors. Access to the “BaseLink Innovationspark” is via the ground floor. The flexible and modular areas for use as office and laboratory space are on floors one to seven. They can be set up according to the wishes and needs of clients. Consistent zoning of the upper floors allows for free horizontal and vertical access to the laboratory areas, and it sets apart these areas, in terms of hygiene, from the connected office space and public areas.
Project: Novartis Campus WSJ-182, Virchow 16, Switzerland
Building area: 13,500 m2
Planning / realization: 2010 – 2014
The WSJ-182, "Virchow 16 Building" is a new research building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland. The central aspect of the design was to create a work environment that supports collaboration and promotes a fast and efficient exchange of ideas. The result is a maginificent structure with its spaicious openspace laboratories and offices connected by a dynamic network of walkways and open staircases providing home to 220 scientists.
The building is organized in two main zones. In the first zone there are laboratories, services and the visitor centre. The second zone consists of several floors and a central atrium with tropical plants that connects the laboratories with the offices and the shared areas across the different floors.
Virchow 16 houses scientific activities that are key to drug discovery at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. The discovery of lead molecules, compounds which have some but not all of the properties necessary to become a drug, is a core focus oft he research performed. The Approach to finding lead molecules integrates a high level of expertise and cutting edge technology in screening, structural biophysics, medicinal chemistry and in silico sciences.
Project: pRED Innovation Center, Basel, Switzerland
Building area: 92,000 m2
Planning / realization: 2013 – 2023
F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG is investing in a new research and development centre at its corporate headquarters in Basel, due to open in 2023. The research and development centre will consist of four buildings and an underground car park as a foundation beneath buildings 4 to 7. Building 4, the Convention Center, will house auditoriums, while Building 5 will accommodate office workstations. Buildings 6 and 7 (72m and 114m high respectively) contain flexible laboratory workstations. The entire complex on the ground floor is joined together by the so-called "Avenue", a covered street connecting all the buildings.
The two high-rise buildings contain laboratories for various uses and offer space for over 800 researchers. In the pRED Innovation Center, the different research departments are to be brought together with the aim of facilitating communication between research employees and further strengthening cooperation.
The laboratory floors have a modular design, which guarantees a high degree of flexibility for future use. The laboratories are planned according to modern laboratory standards and designed as large open-space laboratories. In order to meet the strict hygiene requirements, the evaluation zones and office workstations were organised separately from the laboratory zones on the floor. Partition walls between the areas are fully glazed, creating a bright atmosphere and a feeling of lightness. The pRED Innovation Center sets new standards in functionality as well as design, and will help to secure the basis for innovative research and development in the long term.
Project: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland
Building area: 13,376 m2
Planning / realization: 2017 – 2021
The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is a world-renowned institute that is engaged in both research and teaching, while also offering services in travel medicine, diagnostics and international cooperation. People from around the world work on research at the Swiss TPH and carry out field studies both in Switzerland and internationally. The Swiss TPH is a melting pot of different cultures and nationalities and a hotbed of research and development. High-level interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary work is conducted here. The Swiss TPH held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the construction of its new headquarters in Allschwil. The new building will include approximately 900 work, training and laboratory spaces, starting in 2021. The exchange of ideas among staff, regardless of whether they are in research, training or services, will be able to take place in a relaxed atmosphere, similar to that of a workshop. The building will also be equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories so research and teaching can be conducted and services provided at the highest technological level.
Today Swiss TPH is spread across seven different locations in Basel. The new headquarters in Allschwil, with a usable area of 13,376 square metres, will offer 725 spaces for work and analysis and 150 laboratory spaces. There will also be lecture halls, classrooms and a cafeteria.
On the ground floor are the public rooms for teaching, the clinic and the cafeteria, as well as all access points for people and goods, which are arranged spatially separated from one another so that there is no conflict. The laboratories are located on the first two upper floors. Above them are two floors of office space. Three atriums provide the office spaces with additional zenithal light, which means that all of the lower floors of the building have pleasant natural light and generous vertical views. Two-storey setups are created over and over again, which enhance the multispace office landscape both functionally and spatially. The central access hall serves as a foyer and as an open atrium that connects all floors. Because the field of research is constantly changing it is crucially important to guarantee continuous value creation and the sustainable efficiency of the building. It is therefore necessary that the building, the utilities and the equipment are optimally coordinated with each other.
Project: University of Applied Sciences Northwestern, Campus Muttenz, Switzerland
Building area: 34,000 m2
Planning / realization: 2011 – 2018
The new campus muttenz stands self-confidently and vigorously at the newly created park and includes for the university of applied sciences northwestern switzerland five universities under one roof. In addition to the interdisciplinary exchange of students, the building is intended primarily to stimulate understanding, inspiration and interest and to seduce them into joint activities.
The university, located around a generous light-flooded atrium, is visible through sweeping staircases and open to all. Lecture halls, auditorium, seminar rooms, library and student workplaces, form the pulsating heart for all to experience.
Stacked on top of this type of atrium, the institute building follows with two large atria as a highly efficient laboratory and learning section. Open space can be used differently depending on the requirements of the university. Whether open space or small cell structures, everything is possible. Transparency on and across the floors, views into the distance and references to the other universities create an open, communicative working and learning environment with a positive impact on wellbeing and inspiration.
