Bern: New construction plans for Meienegg housing estate
The Meienegg family housing estate in the Stöckacker district is to be densified and partially replaced by a new development.
The family housing estate Meienegg of the Fambau cooperative was built in the 1940s. Now the cooperative wants to renew and develop the neighborhood. However, the settlement is classified as "worth preserving" in the inventory of the municipal monument preservation office.
A study commission has shown that the settlement can be replaced with a new urban development quality, but that it is important to do this in stages, according to a statement from the Bern municipal council. It has therefore decided that two-thirds to three-quarters of the Meienegg estate can be developed, transformed and redensified in the short to medium term. The remaining building fabric will be preserved for the time being.
The plan is not a self-contained development, but a new part of the neighborhood that signals openness to the outside world, the statement continues. The aim is to have four- to six-story buildings with ground-floor uses oriented toward the public. Higher buildings are also possible in some areas. The site is to be a mixed-use development with non-profit, family-friendly, age-appropriate and handicapped-accessible apartments, and it is also to be planned with a low number of cars.
Starting in the summer, Fambau and the City of Bern will hold a project competition for the area in accordance with SIA 142. On the basis of the competition, the city will then draw up a planning instrument - probably in the form of a zoning ordinance. According to the current planning status, construction is not expected to begin until 2023 at the earliest, according to the city of Bern. (ah)
