What does ‘shell construction’ mean? Avoid cost traps when searching for office space. We explain the differences between the various construction standards in Switzerland.
The terms used in the property market are not set in stone. While a shell property leaves you with bare concrete and, as a rule, requires you to invest every penny yourself in the interior work, the standard high-quality shell property in Switzerland already includes heating, toilets and plastered walls. With a fully finished property, you can move in straight away, but you pay for this convenience with a significantly higher rent. In the end, it is not the buzzword in the advertisement that is decisive, but the detailed list of interfaces in the rental agreement.
Perhaps you have already experienced this situation when looking for new business premises: you read an advertisement for a modern office space that is advertised at CHF 220 per square metre. A real bargain. Just two clicks further on, you find a comparable building, but suddenly the price is CHF 380.
Why such a huge difference in price? The first price most likely refers to the shell of the building, the second to a fully finished space. If you compare apples with oranges here, you'll quickly end up in a cost trap. To be able to work here, you'll have to spend a lot of money and coordinate tradespeople before you can even put the first desk in place. To help you plan your budget realistically, it's worth taking a closer look at the three common standards of finish.
When you enter a space in its classic shell state, you need a lot of imagination. You are basically only renting the structure and shell of the building. All around you are bare concrete walls and rough ceilings, and under your feet there is often no subfloor, just the bare concrete of the floor slab.
Almost everything that makes up an office is missing here. There are no interior walls, no power sockets and no kitchenette. Even the connections for water, electricity and ventilation are usually only routed to a central shaft in your rental space – from there on, it's your problem. That sounds daunting, but for certain tenants it's just right. If you have very specific requirements, such as for a laboratory, a high-tech workshop or a showroom that must correspond exactly to your corporate identity, the shell is the perfect blank canvas. However, you must be aware that you will have to pre-finance the entire interior construction and that it can easily take six to nine months before you can move in.
In Switzerland, you will rarely encounter completely raw concrete. Here, an intermediate stage has become established, often referred to as a ‘high-quality shell’ or ‘extended basic construction’. When you view such a space, it already looks much more liveable.
The exterior walls and the building core are already plastered and painted white, and in most cases, a subfloor or a technical raised floor has already been installed. The key difference to a shell construction is the building services: the heating is installed and working, the slatted blinds are electrically operated and the toilet facilities are fully fitted and ready for use.
For most SMEs, this is the ideal compromise. You don't have to worry about the basic infrastructure, but you still have the freedom to choose the flooring (parquet or carpet) yourself and decide where you want to install glass walls for meeting rooms. The investment required here is significantly lower than for a shell, and the timeline until you can move in is manageable.
At the other end of the scale is the fully finished option, often marketed as ‘plug & play’. The principle is similar to that of a hotel room: you unlock the door, plug in your laptop and you're ready to work.
In these spaces, the landlord – or often the previous tenant – has already taken care of everything. The floor is laid, the walls are up, the kitchen is installed and often even the IT cabling to the workstation is already in place. This is extremely convenient and perfect for start-ups or fast-growing companies that don't have time for construction projects and don't want to tie up their liquidity in drywall construction.
But this convenience comes at a price. Since the landlord has made the investment, they recoup this money through higher rent. In addition, you pay for convenience with a loss of flexibility. You take on someone else's room concept and taste. If you don't like the layout of the offices, you can't easily change it without tearing out the expensive fittings.
The biggest problem with the whole thing is that terms such as ‘partially fitted out’ or ‘ready for occupancy’ are not legally standardised. Every landlord and estate agent understands them differently. There are always disputes about details: does the basic lighting still belong to the landlord's fit-out, or do you have to buy the lamps? Is the ventilation sufficient for an open-plan office, or will it collapse if you install three meeting rooms?
Therefore, never blindly rely on the advertisement. The most important document for your contract negotiations is the so-called interface list. This is a table that precisely defines where the landlord's responsibility ends and yours begins. Only when it is set out in black and white who pays for the kitchenette and who is responsible for the fire doors can you plan your budget with certainty.
Choosing the standard of fit-out is always a balance between time, money and individuality. Do you have capital and very specific requirements? Then a shell construction is the way to go. Do you need to get started quickly and don't want to make a high initial investment? Then look for fully fitted-out spaces. For some companies in Switzerland, however, a high-quality shell construction offers the perfect middle ground – a solid foundation with enough room to add your own personal touch.
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