gibb - Campus

Fifty years after Hans Brechbühlers’ vocational school (Lorrainestrasse 1) was built, the premises had to be expanded due to a sharp rise in pupil numbers. Another key objective was to ensure that the building’s massing blended harmoniously into the neighbourhood. Geiser solved this challenge by extending Jurastrasse, which connects to the site of the existing building via a footbridge. With their main façades, the two wings – housing information and energy technology to the west, and vocational baccalaureate courses to the east – frame the new street space and continue the block-edge structure of the neighbourhood. Three transverse wings, separated by green courtyards, connect to the terraced buildings to the west, whilst the extended Lorrainepark appears to flow around the circular pavilion housing the canteen and auditorium, which adjoins the eastern wing on the courtyard side.

The scale of the surroundings is preserved thanks to the building’s height; to construct the necessary five storeys, the site had to be slightly excavated. The economy of means – a steel structure with a high degree of prefabrication – enabled the architect to realise the project despite reduced construction costs. Structurally, prefabricated steel trusses with composite concrete slabs were chosen for the teaching and work areas, whilst folded sheet metal ceilings were used in the public zones; the building services installations are exposed. © Bauinventar 2017, City of Bern Heritage Conservation