Semi-detached house at Kirchenfeldstrasse 61/63

About the building

On Kirchenfeldstrasse a large double apartment house stands out for its colour: the façades are of ochre exposed brick, articulated with sandstone and terracotta ornament. Under the mansard roof the centre is clearly raised: a broad middle section rises over three storeys and ends in a strong gable top.

The house was built in 1903 by the building contractors A. Massara and Ch. Méchoud, who were both clients and designers. The building inventory describes a dense network of horizontal and vertical members which, in the middle, turns into a purely vertical order through a broad pilaster strip and continuous window bays. According to the inventory, this unusual articulation, the colour and the terracotta are what make the building attractive.

The gable top is designed as a Palladian motif, that is, an arched opening flanked by two narrower, flat-topped side parts, here as blind relief. At its centre sits a niche for a statue, which has remained empty. At the edges there are open verandas over two storeys; the side and rear fronts are plainer.

The house has been altered several times: in 1979 No. 63 received a new entrance, and in 1991 the roof space above the mansard floor of No. 61 was converted. The building belongs to the Kirchenfeld building group, Bern's first planned district. Since the Monbijou bridge opened in 1962, Kirchenfeldstrasse has been a busy route through an otherwise quiet residential area.

Looking up, you will find the statue niche in the middle of the gable, which the inventory explicitly records as empty, and the terracotta ornament below it.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Kirchenfeldstrasse 61, 63 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Kirchenfeld · Wikidata: Q106622699