2 Oct 2008
photo © SDL & Burckhardt + Partner
The Westside project, a new center for leisure and shopping in Brünnen,
is an urban scale architecture project totaling 1.5 million sq. ft. In
addition to the 55 shops, 10 restaurants and bars, hotel, multiplex cinema,
fun bath with wellness center and housing, this mixed-use program radically
reinvents the concept of shopping, entertainment and living.
photos © SDL & Burckhardt + Partner
The Westside project is a joint venture between ADL and Burckhardt &
Partner, Bern with Rhomberg Bau AG/Strabag AG and is to be completed in
October 2008.
Photos © SDL & Burckhardt + Partner
The Westside project, a new center for leisure and shopping in Brünnen,
is an urban scale architecture project totaling 1.5 million sq. ft. In
addition to the 55 shops, 10 restaurants and bars, hotel, multiplex cinema,
fun bath with wellness center and housing, this mixed-use program radically
reinvents the concept of shopping, entertainment and living. The Westside
project is a joint venture between ADL and Burckhardt & Partner, Bern
with Rhomberg Bau AG/Strabag AG and is to be completed in October 2008.
Photos © SDL
The Westside project for Leisure and Shopping in Brünnen is an urban
scale architectural project totalling 150,000 square meters. Theme park
swimming pool with fitness center, shopping, multiplex convention center,
hotel and senior housing are all included in this mixed-use program. The
aim of the project is to design a space in which the life of a city is
reflected. The project also creates a unique integration of architecture
and landscape at a large, urban scale.
Photos © SDL & Burckhardt + Partner
Westside is an independent, but integrated district of Bern and has been
planned accordingly. The development creates an exciting gateway into
the city of Bern as it dramatically positions itself over the major highway
and is integrated into the city with its own highway exit and train stop.
The several-layer wooden facade connects the city area with the countryside,
while emphasizing Westside as a major destination. Right-angled and transverse
cut boxes constructed from steal concrete with a prop grid of 8,10 x 8,10
meters are creating sophisticated rooms and generating different external
areas at Westside.
Photos © SDL & Burckhardt + Partner
The concept offers commercial, leisure and living spaces at day and night
just like any naturally grown district. This building is not only a landmark,
but also an urban organism which attracts the surrounding region, becoming
a place of excursions, congresses and seminars, and leisurely activities.
In addition to housing, there are fifty five shops, a hotel, a multiplex
cinema, a senior residency and a wellness center included in a mixed-use
program that radically reinvents the concept of shopping, entertainment
and living.
12 Sep 2008
First Shopping Center by World Renowned Architect Daniel Libeskind:
Official Opening Oct. 8th
Westside Shopping and Leisure Centre, an exciting new development designed
by famed architect Daniel Libeskind, will open its doors for the first
time to the public Wednesday, October 8. Westside will also hold a press
preview and special guided tour on Tuesday, October 7 from 9:30 a.m. -
12 p.m. in Bern-Brünnen, Switzerland.
View from highway
Westside is the largest building project in Switzerland and the first
shopping center to be designed by Daniel Libeskind. In addition to the
55 shops, 10 restaurants and bars, hotel, multiplex cinema, water park,
wellness center and housing, this mixed-use program radically reinvents
the concept of shopping, entertainment and living. With its impressive
location above the A1 autobahn, its direct connection to the S-Bahn urban
railway and the BERNMOBIL transport network, Westside will become a meeting
place for the whole greater region of Bern and provide a striking gateway
to the city.
Bern, 20 Sep 2007
Daniel Libeskind Tops-Off His First Building in Switzerland
Joined by 900 Guests, Libeskind Celebrates the Completion of the Core
and Shell of the westside Shopping and Leisure Center in Bern-Brünnen
Daniel Libeskind sketch
Just a year shy of the official opening, Daniel Libeskind was in Bern
today to celebrate the completion of the core and shell of the westside
Shopping and Leisure Center—a multi-use facility that combines a
shopping center with 60 shops, a food court, and several restaurants and
bars with a multiplex cinema with eleven auditoriums, a hotel and conference
space, wellness center, fitness center and senior residence.
Designed to replicate a medieval city, westside adopts all the functions
of a 21st century public space by incorporating multi-level rooms, alleys
and plazas, which are accentuated by the changing daylight that reaches
all of the unique spaces through skylights and clearstories.
Leisure Centre
“Westside is an exciting 21st century community that dramatically
reinvents the concept of shopping, entertainment, wellness and living,”
said architect Daniel Libeskind.
Since the laying of the foundation in April 2006, between 400 and 600
workers have been at the construction site daily and have used more than
80,000 cubic meters of concrete, 120,000 cubic meters of aggregate, 11,000
tons of steel, 5,000 square meters of glass, 3,500 cubic meters of wood,
350 kilometers of power cables and 200 kilometers of pipes.
Food Hall
“Thanks to the outstanding and tireless commitments of all parties,
we are on schedule,” remarked Anton Gäumann, CEO of Neue Brünnen
AG. “We are determined to successfully complete and open westside
on October 8, 2008.”
Dramatically located over highway A1, westside creates an exciting gateway
into the city of Bern. The layered wooden façade connects the city
area with the countryside to the west; while a new train stop connects
westside to public transportation.
Kino - cinema
“This project creates a unique integration of architecture, landscape
and a sophisticated urban spirit,” added Libeskind.
Westside Shopping and Leisure Center in Bern-Brünnen : text from
Studio Daniel Libeskind 200907
Swiss Buildings
Westside Shopping and Leisure
Center : Studio Daniel Libeskind
Shopping Centres : images
Swiss Architects
Retail Design
World Architecture : e-architect
- a guide to key buildings across the globe
Comments / photos for this Bern Building page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk
Westside Shopping Center - page : adrian
welch / isabelle lomholt