FBA Fritschi Beis Architektur

Description

The site of Bern’s former waste incineration plant is today pulsing with new life. Six non-profit developers are jointly building a new neighbourhood here offering around 350 apartments, a broad mix of uses and numerous communal areas. The project is part of the former Holliger industrial site. Three unconventional apartment types provide affordable living space, while additional guest rooms (known as joker rooms) can be rented to lend the residential programme family-friendly flexibility. Arcades, a spacious elevator, a self-managed outdoor kitchen and a shared roof terrace with trees, a play area and a fire pit offer attractive recreation and meeting zones for the residential community. The building impresses with its simple and robust outer structure coupled with a rich interior. The openness and generosity of the industrial architecture has been augmented with the cosiness and complexity necessary for creating comfortable family homes. A clean-lined cubic exterior contrasts with a multi-layered interior: Three-storey terraced houses, nested split-levels, conventional apartments, joker rooms and common rooms are all accessed via a staircase in the tower volume and arcades on the courtyard side of the longitudinal building. The «family house» forms the north-western end of the Holliger estate. The offset tower volume and longitudinal building accentuate the street corner, spatially close off the inner courtyard to the north, and define the relationship to the planned high-rise.