Growing Administrative Center at Guisanplatz in Bern
Modern workplaces in Building D from 2026 for 1,200 officials of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport
In January 2021, the necessary measures for the construction of an additional office building for the Administrative Center of the Swiss Confederation on Guisanplatz are being implemented.
The future users are certain administrative units of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) or Das Eidgenössische Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (VBS).
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Since 2013, an Administrative Center of the Swiss Confederation has been under construction at Guisanplatz in Bern in several phases. The project proposal was selected through a competition won by the Bernese architectural firm Aebi & Vincent.
The client is the Federal Office for Construction and Logistics (BBL) or Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik (BBL).
The second phase will begin with the dismantling of the existing garages: in their place, a six-story building with a skylight will be constructed, completing the complex to the north of the former arsenal.
A credit of 130 million allocated in 2020
From 2026, this new administrative building (Building D) will provide modern workstations for 1,200 employees of the DDPS administrative units. These are currently housed in multiple locations.
The concentration of administrative units is intended to provide the Federal Administration with space on an economic basis. This is based on sustainability criteria such as high energy efficiency, diversified use and lower life-cycle costs of the buildings.
The credit of CHF 130 million, which the Federal Council requested for the construction in its message on real estate, was allocated by the National Council in December 2020.
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First, it is planned to carry out the work required to install the construction site, which includes the site infrastructure and various protective measures such as fencing and noise barriers. The garages will be dismantled, using heavy construction equipment, between the months of March and May 2021.
After that, the excavation pit will be constructed and gradually secured with drilled concrete piles. Raw construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2022, with move-in to the new building expected to occur in 2026.
As was the case during the first phase of construction, representatives of the federal government, the District V “DIALOG Nordquartier” neighborhood committee, and the City of Bern will continue to have a dialogue in order to coordinate interests and express concerns of the stakeholders.
