#Multifunctional building #Biel/Bienne #1932
Aarbergstrasse 112
2502
Biel/Bienne,
Switzerland
Public transport: General-Guisan-Platz
Access: Public building, free entry during working hours
Today's use: restaurant, shops, offices, music school
Description
The Volkshaus is composed of several staggered parts. The building complex consists of the east-facing head building, which houses the restaurant and is designed as a one-storey rotunda with a roof terrace, the staircase rising high in the south, the eight-storey high-rise adjoining it on the north side, and the four-story block following it in the west.
The latter contains an over-height multipurpose hall that is characterized on the outside by thin, vertically arranged window slits. The setback attic is windowed in the same grid, but the openings have nearly square formats. These are also found on the high-rise slab, where the windows on the top four floors are designed as cornered bands and framed with cast stone cornices.
The flat-roofed building is made of reddish-brown clinker brick - a material that experienced a revival with brick expressionism in northern Germany in the 1920s, but is rather unusual in Switzerland.
Description
The Volkshaus is composed of several staggered parts. The building complex consists of the east-facing head building, which houses the restaurant and is designed as a one-storey rotunda with a roof terrace, the staircase rising high in the south, the eight-storey high-rise adjoining it on the north side, and the four-story block following it in the west.
The latter contains an over-height multipurpose hall that is characterized on the outside by thin, vertically arranged window slits. The setback attic is windowed in the same grid, but the openings have nearly square formats. These are also found on the high-rise slab, where the windows on the top four floors are designed as cornered bands and framed with cast stone cornices.
The flat-roofed building is made of reddish-brown clinker brick - a material that experienced a revival with brick expressionism in northern Germany in the 1920s, but is rather unusual in Switzerland.
History
The Volkshaus was realized in the years 1930 to 1932 according to the design of Eduard Lanz. The building belongs to the era of "Red Biel": under the Social Democratic government with Guido Müller as city president. In 1976, the sponsors of the Volkshaus filed for bankruptcy and the hotel operations were discontinued. In 1983, the public authorities took over the building and renovated it. A further, gentle partial renovation was carried out in 2012 by the spaceshop architects.
History
The Volkshaus was realized in the years 1930 to 1932 according to the design of Eduard Lanz. The building belongs to the era of "Red Biel": under the Social Democratic government with Guido Müller as city president. In 1976, the sponsors of the Volkshaus filed for bankruptcy and the hotel operations were discontinued. In 1983, the public authorities took over the building and renovated it. A further, gentle partial renovation was carried out in 2012 by the spaceshop architects.
