From offices to housing
Brückenkopf Bern © Bauart
Faced with the foreseeable reduction in office space needs, the conversion of administrative buildings into housing tends to increase. In this context, Prof. Emmanuel Rey, head of the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST), was interviewed by the newspaper "Le Temps" to identify the architectural challenges of this type of approach.
In a context of both health and economic crisis, the issue of the evolution of cities focuses particularly around quality housing and the future of office spaces. A decline in office space needs seems predictable, due to the success of teleworking, the consequences of the economic crisis or even space optimization strategies. At the same time, expectations for quality housing - in terms of context, typology, space and flexibility - remain high and tend to intensify.
«These two points meet today concerning the issues related to the transformation of existing offices into housing adapted to current and future needs», analyses Prof. Emmanuel Rey. The question is at the same time urban, to enhance spaces already built near existing services and transport, architectural with the creation of new types of housing, and technical due to the constructive complexity of this type of project.
As part of an approach that strives to enhance the existing buildings, the conversion of administrative buildings not only allows the development of apartments of a new kind. It also generates a wide functional diversity through shared services and allows new housing to benefit from the multiple amenities offered by the urban environment.
Featured in the article and designed by the Bauart office of which Prof. Emmanuel Rey is a partner, the example of the Brückenkopf complex, currently being reconverted in the heart of the city of Bern, illustrates the potential and complexity of this type of approach. The program includes the creation of fifty loft apartments, with ground-floor services and common facilities on the roof (vegetable garden, outdoor kitchen, terrace).