Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Stairs, HandrailBernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - GlassBernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - FacadeBernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Facade, WindowsBernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - More Images+ 24

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Windows
© Roland Halbe

Text description provided by the architects. The City of Bernex is located in the urban ring of Geneva. Under the pressure of real estate development, it is undergoing expansion and evolving its status as a city from a place with rural character into an urban area.

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Facade, Windows
© Roland Halbe

The new city hall building completes the administrative center of Bernex. It creates with the two existing buildings, a public plaza. This space is dedicated to organizing numerous activities such as official ceremonies, markets, festivals, and so on.

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Windows, Door
© Roland Halbe

The building is integrated into a north facing slope. It is organized on three levels, all of which are directly linked to the exterior spaces. Its polygonal shape creates precise relationships with the context and eludes any direct opposition. The architectural language expressed by a simple glass curtain wall prolongs the establishment of continuity within the site. The layering of three slightly misaligned levels produces a vibration that underlines their autonomy and relationship with the terrain. This strategy breaks down the frontal presence of the façades and offers endless new perspectives. A phenomenon of scale reduction of the building speaks to the surrounding rural buildings.

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Table, Chair
© Roland Halbe

The program is comprised of administrative surfaces, some meeting rooms, the council room, city archives and an exhibition space.

Floor Plan

A particular focus on sustainability was applied to the project throughout the process, from its compact design, to the implementation of program synergies, to its careful execution of details, as well as its reuse of rain water and production of electricity with a solar plant. The construction was awarded the Minergie P label.

Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects - Windows, Facade
© Roland Halbe

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Project location

Address:Rue de Bernex 311, 1233 Bernex, Switzerland

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects" 05 Mar 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/604725/bernex-city-hall-personeni-raffaele-scharer-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

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