0268
Weyermannshaus Bern
The Weyermannshaus Sport and Recreation Facility “Weyerli” is located to the west of Bern, in a district that will be transformed into a new urban quarter in the coming decades. Requirements for outdoor space devoted to leisure and recreation can therefore be expected to grow significantly, and the utilization of the sport and recreation facility to intensify accordingly.
Today, the open-air swimming pool, with its outbuildings dating from the 1950s, is among the most important municipal facilities of its kind in Switzerland. Among the architectural properties belonging to the city of Bern, it is classified as meriting landmarks protection. The outdoor area is vital to the city’s history, and is moreover regarded as worthy of preservation by virtue of its existing inventory and status as a landscaping achievement. In 1971, the “Weyerli” (little pond) was expanded to become today’s Weyermannshaus Sport and Recreation Facility, with an indoor pool and an open-air artificial ice rink.
The paramount objective of the architects is to preserve as much unbuilt surface area and vegetation as possible, thereby providing maximal shadowed areas and moisture. This aim will be fulfilled through a compact volume with a minimal footprint that occupies only the outermost corner of the parcel, and whose roof will moreover be landscaped.
The required spaces will be assembled so as to occupy as little surface area as possible, allowing the various utilizations to benefit from short distances. The divergent heights of the individual halls result in a building that is composed of multiple pavilion-style elements, thereby subdividing the enormous volume playfully. This results in a flattening effect from the street toward the open-air swimming pool, with the building seeming to merge with the park
Thanks to numerous entry points and pathways within the park, access to the building is possible from all compass directions. As a consequence of this centrality, and for the sake of the marvellous view, the roofed main entrance is oriented toward the middle of the park. The corner of the building is occupied by the ticket office, which allows the simultaneous servicing of the outdoor area and entrance hall.
For visitors entering the building, the conspicuously tall entrance hall offers views into various user areas. Through a glass front, there are views down into the ice rink, while the space opens up above towards the indoor pool.
0268 Renovation Weyermannshaus Sport and Recreational Facility, Bern
Reference numbers
Competition: 2019, 1st place
Planned completion: 2029
Floor area: 12’500 m2
Team BK
Client: Hochbau Stadt Bern
Construction management: Tekhne SA
Landscape architect: Bryum
Construction engineer: Dr. Neven Kostic
Building services: Gruenberg + Partner
Electrical engineer + building automation: HKG Engineering
Ice rink technology: LePlan
Water technology: Beck Schwimmbadbau
Building physics + fire safety: Pirmin Jung Schweiz
Facade engineering: Emmer Pfenniger Partner
Light design: LLAL
Pool specialist: Köpfli Urs
Material specialist: SCE
Geotechnics / soil monitoring: Geotest
Door planning: Safe Solution
Utility lines coordination: IPG Ingenieur- und Planungsbüro Gränicher
Visualisation: maaars
Project team BK
Project: Silvia Ackermann, Vander Lemes, Beatriz Morales de Setién, David Calvo
Competition: Beatriz Morales de Setién, Povilas Sileikis, Pablo Machín Prats, Lukas Burkhard, Tilmann Weissinger