Kleefeld School, Bern
competition
Hochbau Stadt Bern

New building
Competition / 3rd prize
The new building combines the types of use previously contained in different buildings into a single structure.
Planning 2014

The new replacement building is located in the Kleefeld development, which was built in the late 1960s in Bern’s Bümpliz district. In place of the 40-year-old school complex split into disparate units, there is now a spacious atrium-type building with a central schoolyard. The two-storey school has a distinctive appearance amid the sometimes hulking high-rise residential blocks. Its proportions reflect a consideration for the perspective of the schoolchildren and teachers. The outside space is divided into three areas: the central playground, ‘Chleehus Square’ at the northern end, and the outdoor area of the kindergarten on the eastern side. The schoolyard also serves as an extension of the interior space and is separated from all of the classrooms by just a single storey.