A modern flagship venue for live events and a showcase for energy efficiency.
HISTORY
The BERNEXPO exhibition grounds in the east of the city of Bern are among the largest of their kind in Switzerland. The site’s eight exhibition halls spread over two building complexes, with around 40,000 m² of event space in 22 halls with 100,000 m² of outdoor space. With a unique range of exhibition spaces, congress rooms, multipurpose halls and outdoor spaces, BERNEXPO can market, develop and facilitate the very best live events. The Festhalle (or Festival Hall) on the BERNEXPO site, built in 1948 as a temporary structure, had come to the end of its lifespan. Between August 2022 and March 2025, general contractor HRS Real Estate AG replaced the old hall with a state-of-the-art new build under the Minergie-P ® energy efficiency standard.
CONCEPT AND ARCHITECTURE
The new building has a total area of 9,400 m² across three main spaces: the multipurpose hall (which, like the new building as a whole, is referred to as the Festhalle or Festival Hall), the Cube congress centre and the Foyer. The flexible multipurpose hall can host large conferences and cultural events such as concerts and theatrical presentations with up to 9,000 visitors. The architects have created a readily legible entity made up of three parts. With volumes reduced to an essential minimum, the event hall and the congress centre allow for independent usage. They are connected by a shared foyer within the inviting shelter of a pillared hall. This spacious hall embeds the new congress and event centre more firmly in the surrounding district. The foyer within this hall is a highly public space which also forms the entrance to the exhibition grounds. It simultaneously connects and separates the different uses of the congress centre and event hall. This volume has a homogeneous shell with varying degrees of transparency.
A covered walkway extends more than 500 metres around the hall and provides a playful backdrop for outdoor events. This results in 70 column bays that recall Bern’s famous arcades. The little-used area Messeplatz Süd comes to life thanks to a water feature with 20 jets, lending added value to the district.
CHALLENGES
The project proved to be extremely complex. The hall conceals one of the largest and most advanced event technology systems, which includes a 150-m² LED wall, the largest permanent LED screen of any Swiss congress centre, 27-metre screens and height-adjustable stages. Three quarters of the indoor hall areas are covered with sound-absorbing surfaces. The 70 chain motors of the hall roof enable super-quick installation of over 320 tonnes of event technology. HRS Real Estate AG drew on its experience to navigate the complicated logistics, and ensured that the public trade fair BEA 2024 went ahead despite ongoing construction work. HRS Real Estate AG again demonstrated great sensitivity in its collaboration with politicians, authorities and the public. The general contractor is proud to announce that 90 percent of the participating companies are from the local region.
ENERGY CONCEPT AND SUSTAINABILITY
The new Festhalle is setting benchmarks for energy efficiency within the trade fair landscape. The new building meets the strict requirements of the Minergie-P® standard and operates without fossil fuels. Heating and cooling is generated on the roof through a reversible heating/cooling system that uses the natural refrigerant propane. The photovoltaic system on the roof has an output of 300 kWp. Through an innovative sanitary concept, water from the sanitary flushing units is used to water the trees on the forecourt.
The new Festhalle is also a flagship project in terms of component recycling. More than 55 tonnes of dismantled steel beams were reused, saving 22 tonnes of CO2 . The client was inspired by the circular economy project ‘Reuse of Steel Sections’ carried out by the Verband für Nachhalhaltiges Wirtschaften (öbu); HRS Real Estate AG assisted with the task of dismantling the steel beams. The proportion of green spaces has more than doubled. The plane trees on Guisanplatz and the avenue of trees along Papiermühlestrasse were retained. Forty-four trees that had to make way for the new building were replaced. To further offset this loss, 15 percent of the perimeter area was designed to be near-natural; another contribution to biodiversity is the extensive roof greening with exclusively native species.