Schönburg Conversion in Berne
- Jakob Schoof
For 44 years, the Schönburg complex in Berne served as the headquarters of the Swiss Post Office. Down to 2014, some 1,400 people worked in the eight-storey administrative structure, erected in 1970 to a design by Theo Hotz. After the Swiss Post had moved to a new building on the outskirts of the city in 2016, Theo Hotz Partner were also entrusted with the task of converting the Schönburg, together with Marazzi + Paul. The planning was preceded by a series of feasibility and demand studies, which showed that the facilities most lacking in the Swiss capital were housing and hotel accommodation in the three-star category. The mixed usage that has now been implemented comprises 142 dwellings, a hotel with 188 rooms, and a supermarket. The last of these, together with 10 dwellings – partly maisonettes – are contained in a new annex, which replaces the former conference and canteen structure of the postal administration. The extensive, two-storey basement garage was retained and now forms an underground link between the high- and low-rise structures of the new development.
