French School

About the building

On Jupiterstrasse in the Allmend-Murifeld district is the school that teaches children from Bern and the surrounding area in French. According to its own information, the École cantonale de langue française has been teaching children from French-speaking and bilingual families for more than eighty years. Its current building is considerably younger: it was built from 1988 to 1991.

It began with a competition held by the cantonal building department, won by the Bern firm Somazzi Häfliger Grunder (S’H’G) together with the landscape architects Dieter Kienast and David Bosshard. The building inventory dates it to 1983, the Open House Bern platform to 1983/84. The building was carried out by the Bern firm Häfliger von Allmen Architekten.

The complex consists of a gymnasium, four classroom wings and an assembly hall building. Its backbone is a long walkway with a wall beside it, against which the individual buildings are set. The classroom wings stand on the east side at right angles to the walkway and are linked by a hall that also serves as a break area. The assembly hall lies at the north end; its building is the only one whose south and west facades break out of the right-angled grid at a slant. The gymnasium is set one storey lower and opens to the east with large areas of glazing.

Notice the contrast between the facades: facing south, the classroom wings have closely set, large rectangular windows, while facing north the walls are closed except for a few small windows. In this way the classrooms receive light from the sunny side, while the back stays calm.

The city's building inventory lists the school as worthy of protection. It praises both the clear concept and the careful handling of space and material.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Jupiterstrasse 2, 2A, B, C · Open House Bern: Französische Schule · Wikidata: Q139230254