Kleine Schanze

The park café, known as the Milchbar, is situated in the ‘Kleine Schanze’ city park, just a few steps from the Federal Palace. The pavilion was built in 1945 as an open-air refreshment kiosk on the Baroque city ramparts, which had been converted into a promenade. Various extensions and alterations over the years have obscured the building’s originally clean lines. Over recent years, the successful seasonal venue has developed into a popular meeting place for a wide range of Bernese visitors. Due to serious structural and operational shortcomings, the 180-seat café was fully renovated and refurbished during the winter of 2023/2024. In the process, the original pavilion form was restored and the obfuscating extensions were removed. A new pergola, designed in the style of the original refreshment kiosk, creates a strong connection to the park. Typical elements from the 1940s, such as the columns and sills made of Maggia gneiss and the roof structure with exposed rafters, have been preserved, reused and carried over into the new parts of the building. This preserves the building’s embodied energy, promotes the circular economy and strengthens the identity of the site. The existing pavilion and the new pergola structure, with its generous sections of adjustable slats, together form a striking butterfly roof. Delicate folding-sliding windows and folding shutters create a permeable building envelope towards the park, whilst tectonically structured sandstone profiles span the arch of the carefully renovated park café towards Bern’s old town behind it. 

In parallel with the renovation of the pavilion, the Kleine Schanze park was also refurbished and its historical qualities enhanced. Paths, green spaces and plantings were renewed, the pond was converted to a resource-efficient rainwater recirculation system, and the lighting and irrigation were modernised. Interventions of lower quality were removed and accessibility improved. The result is a climate-resilient urban space, developed in accordance with heritage standards, which secures the long-term future of this popular location.