017 - Berner Aarequartier CH, 4th prize

ECHO Urban Design and Mulder Zonderland are one of the prize winners in the international competition for the development of the new ‘Gaswerkareal and Bruckenkopf West’ in Bern, Switzerland.

The 17-member jury, led by Martin Zulauf, including Kees Christiaanse, Astrid Heymann and Thomas Pluger, decided after several days of deliberation on 5 prizes and 2 ‘ankaufen’. Our plan won the 4th prize. The ideas, insights and aspects of all winners will be included by the overall winner and the city of Bern in the further development of the master plan.

The site of the old gas factory and the spacious natural river banks around it are alive and closed in the hearts of Bernese people. The relics of the old gas factory and the open space around it are currently a play area for people who want to do business, experiment, play sports, go out and recreate. The cradle for us to develop further.

Jury report: The “interplay of nature, industrial level and urban culture” is manifested in its decisive setting: the densification injected in the north and entangled under the Monbijou bridge is in spectacular contrast to the spaciousness and opulence of the south and along the Aare staged green space in which powerful structural constellations nestle. Extreme density and typological diversity stand in opposition to the vastness and composure of the lush nature in the alluvial land."