2013, Wild West, Berne-Brünnen, 1st prize

Westbound.
"Weites Land" (wide country) housing development (BB11), Berne-Brünnen, Switzerland, 2010–2013

Our building complex with 97 apartments reacts to the urban situation with a concise, bent court figure that opens to the north. This creates two open green spaces that communicate with their surroundings. A handful of ateliers and a common room enliven the ground floor.

Bustling life on the ground floor – even in front of the row house types that are integrated into the lower wing of the building. A footpath leading across the wide, green inner courtyard opens up the entrances to the row houses. The result is an intensive exchange between private and public spaces.

 

The single-storey apartments allude to two of our favourite themes, the diagonal space and the hidden paths through the apartments.

Address
Colombstrasse 24, 39–41, Riedbachstrasse 78–82, in 3027 Berne, Switzerland

Study contract 2010, planning and execution 2010–201

Client
Swatch Pensionskasse – Pension Fund, Biel

Spatial program
97 apartments, ateliers, common room

 

Architecture
Michael Geschwentner

Project team
Isabel Bernhard (Huber) (project management), Angela Waibel (project management), Olivier Altorfer

Landscape architecture
Katja Albiez Landschaft & Architektur

Colour concept
Barbara Schwärzler