Warmbächliweg Development, Bern, Switzerland

This new development located in an old waste-recycling area continues the pattern of the surrounding area and ends in an urban square marked by a high-rise. Easily accessible by public transport, the square’s location allows for a more sustainable concept of mobility. The proposal foresees development of the site in three phases each consisting of three or four buildings grouped around a courtyard. This cluster-type organization aims to create a porous urban quarter as well as livable and protected inner courtyards, thus allowing space for community. The height differentiation of the buildings sits gently within the different levels of the plot as well as in the landscaped exterior space.

The open space is a slender park formed around the creek that curls through the courtyards. Landscape textures like different scales of gravel combined with concrete and stone were chosen to reflect the character of this former industrial site.

The shared space varies from a circulation / entrance zone on the ground floor to a common courtyard between the buildings. Varying scales of communal use allow residents a choice of privacy levels within this new quarter, and flexible apartment plans enable a wide variety of user groups. The ability to share a flat or rent out a room provides living concepts that are adaptable to today’s diverse structures. Flats offering the possibility of extension strengthen and support Bern’s goal to be a place for family living.