Westside, Bern: Your both/and center
Polyconsult shows that there is more to the new Westside leisure and shopping center near Bern than just shopping.
It took around 42 years from the first thoughts of urban expansion in Bern-Brünnen to the opening of the Westside leisure and shopping center. A first project from 1972 was a victim of the oil crisis, a second with 6,000 apartments and around 4,000 jobs was rejected by the people at the ballot box in 1978. After a series of further projects, the people of Bern finally said yes to the mature large-scale project in Bern-Brünnen in 2000. To realize this leisure and shopping center, the Migros Aare cooperative founded Neue Brünnen AG. Now the Westside has been opened on October 8.
The Berne agency Polyconsult was commissioned with the overall communication for the opening. For CD Jürg Tscharner and consultants Caroline Bühler and Jasmin Stadelmann, the task was to develop an integrated campaign with a consistent visual language that does justice both to Westside's diverse offering and the aesthetic ambience of the adventure center. The visuals dramatize in a catchy way what Westside is all about: the combination of a wide variety of offers in one place. At Westside, you can combine your Saturday shopping with a wellness outing, a movie night with a fine meal, or a business seminar with action in the adventure pool.
Indeed, "the most spectacular leisure and adventure center in Switzerland" has a lot to offer its visitors: In addition to a shopping mall with 55 stores, also a gigantic adventure pool & spa, 10 restaurants, 11 cinemas and a seminar hotel. All this is framed by the impressive architecture of Daniel Libeskind. Westside is similar to a naturally grown city district, bustling by day and by night. The façade of the large buildings is framed in Robinia wood and connects the building complex in a simple way with the landscape, which opens up to the west.
But Westside is not only architecturally much more than a mere shell for a shopping center. It is a living space. The seamless juxtaposition of shopping center, retirement home, hotel and leisure facilities in conjunction with nature, the new Brünnen residential development and the built fabric of the nearby old town of Bern is unique. "Westside is an urban marketplace and a stimulating experience destination with international flair," the architect is pleased to say.
Andreas Panzeri
The Berne agency Polyconsult was commissioned with the overall communication for the opening. For CD Jürg Tscharner and consultants Caroline Bühler and Jasmin Stadelmann, the task was to develop an integrated campaign with a consistent visual language that does justice both to Westside's diverse offering and the aesthetic ambience of the adventure center. The visuals dramatize in a catchy way what Westside is all about: the combination of a wide variety of offers in one place. At Westside, you can combine your Saturday shopping with a wellness outing, a movie night with a fine meal, or a business seminar with action in the adventure pool.
Indeed, "the most spectacular leisure and adventure center in Switzerland" has a lot to offer its visitors: In addition to a shopping mall with 55 stores, also a gigantic adventure pool & spa, 10 restaurants, 11 cinemas and a seminar hotel. All this is framed by the impressive architecture of Daniel Libeskind. Westside is similar to a naturally grown city district, bustling by day and by night. The façade of the large buildings is framed in Robinia wood and connects the building complex in a simple way with the landscape, which opens up to the west.
But Westside is not only architecturally much more than a mere shell for a shopping center. It is a living space. The seamless juxtaposition of shopping center, retirement home, hotel and leisure facilities in conjunction with nature, the new Brünnen residential development and the built fabric of the nearby old town of Bern is unique. "Westside is an urban marketplace and a stimulating experience destination with international flair," the architect is pleased to say.
Andreas Panzeri
