Nicolas G. Hayek Center

Kanto | Tokyo - Chuo Ward

Architecture & Design

Named after its emblematic founder, the building of the Swatch Group in Ginza bears the same qualities: it is grand and innovative!

One man, one vision, one building

Often dubbed as the “Savior of the Swiss watch industry”, Dr. h. c. Nicolas G. Hayek (1928-2010) was a visionary Swiss entrepreneur whose impact on Switzerland simply cannot be overstated. In 1983, as a response to the "quartz crisis", he founded Swatch, which thanks to a clever business strategy completely changed the way people around the world thought about wrist watches, turning them into fashionable and collectible items. Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group, which he ran from its creation 1986 until his passing, Hayek brought together brands such as Tissot, Longines, Omega or Breguet, thus reinforcing the sustainability of a substantial part of the Swiss watch industry. His career even earned him the very first Swiss Lifetime Award in January 2007!

That same year, on May 23, 2007, the new headquarters building for Swatch Group Japan was inaugurated in Ginza’s Chuo-dori Street, the most elegant area for shopping and dining in Tokyo. Its name? Only one option could adequately convey the pioneering spirit and the creativity of the Group: the “Nicolas G. Hayek Center”.

A street inside the street

The Nicolas G. Hayek Center was designed by renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who in 2000 was profiled by the Time Magazine as one of the new century's leading innovators. Since then, such predictions have proven accurate, as seen by the growing importance of his “paper architecture” philosophy and ecological concerns in his projects, which embrace the combination of Western and Eastern building forms and methods. Among his high-level international works, two are currently located in Switzerland: the Tamedia Office Building in Zurich (2013), and, most importantly, the New Headquarters for Swatch and the New Production Buildings for Omega in Biel (in progress). This means that the Japanese architect designed both, the headquarters of the Group in Japan as well as the headquarters of the brand Swatch in Switzerland.

Built from 2004 to 2007 on the location of the former Pearl building, the Nicolas G. Hayek Center is a fourteen-story, 56 meters-high architectural construction covered with four-story-high glass shutters at its front and back facades. As explained by Shigeru Ban in his project description, once the glass shutters are opened, the building becomes “Watch Street”, a lively and dynamic passage that anyone can walk through. The interior wall along the large atrium is filled with vegetation that flows down from the roof to the ground to make the shops domain, customer domain, and office domain in a vertical and continuous green park that contrasts with its urban surroundings.

To ensure the accessibility of the of the Nicolas G. Hayek Center’s seven boutiques (Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Omega, Longines and Swatch) located at first basement to fourth floor, seven large glassed showroom hydraulic elevators have been installed at the entrance to welcome the customers. Customer service and offices occupy the 5th to 13th floors, while the “Cité du Temps”, an exhibition hall with an astonishing view, sits on the top floor. In sum, an architectural tour-de-force at the image of Switzerland’s biggest watchmaker!

Bringing time to the world

The Swatch Group Ltd is the number one manufacturer of finished watches in the world. The Group is active in the manufacture of finished watches, jewelry, watch movements and components. It produces nearly all of the components necessary to manufacture the watches its 18 brands and the multi-brand retail labels Tourbillon and Hour Passion, as well as the entire Swiss watchmaking industry. In addition, it operates its own worldwide network of distribution organizations.

Today, under the leadership of Board Chair, Nayla Hayek, and CEO, Nick Hayek, Swatch Group continues to invest heavily in research and development, driving the steady expansion of its leading position in materials and process technologies, in product design and manufacturing. In particular, Swatch Group engages in significant development activities in microelectronics and micromechanics. The Group is also active in the field of telecommunications and in the automobile and service sectors.

Sports timing and measurement technologies, although not the core business, play a key role in terms of brand and Group visibility. A strong number of Swatch Group companies serve as official timekeepers at a variety of international sports events, including the Olympic Games. On 28 occasions since 1932, Omega has fulfilled the role of official timekeeper at the Olympic and will again have this honor in 2021 in Tokyo.