Expanded Urbanism

1999
The contemporary urban debate is confronted with liminal situations that stem from the unreliability of modern conditions. The environment is undergoing radical change in the face of expanding urban conditions, and this requires research into the effects of rapid change, removal, and retrofit.
A large mix-use building is better able to cope with programmatic diversity and temporal flux. Inventiveness in terms of its surroundings makes up for the standard layout of the floor plans. A massive sound barrier, protection against the railway, occasionally intersects with the generic layout of the flats, and in so doing establishes a relationship between the building and its environmental setting. The added thickness to the building not only accommodates circulations, but also enables a variety of definitions to be established of borders between different activities.This maximised single building volume and maximised public space will assure a financially and culturally viable implementation of the project in this low-profile non-place in the city of Bern.

2004-2008
After the competition in 2000, Madir Shah and Holger Glady made a feasibility study for the city of Bern. The process did not go further and the team stopped their collaboration in 2002. Madir Shah created URBANOFFICE Architects. In 2004, he started a collaboration with Bauart who already had made a small study for HDR (House of religions / Dialogue of cultures) who wanted to be one of the users within the project. Together they did the initial design steps for the Europaplatz itself and developed the whole mixed program. Then they searched a developer/investor and finally in 2008, they chose Halter AG who was ready to lead the process.
The Europaplatz Multipurpose Centre is the result of the phase 1 of the original Europan 5 project. With its distinctive shape, it takes over the function of a new city gate in the west of Bern and defines the Europaplatz train station. It lies in between the city of Bern and the western suburbs. The building stands as a symbol for different worlds that meet each other, the old city-centre and suburbs with a high percentage of people form many different cultures.
The realization of the new multi-functional building functions as a spark for further urban development in development area ESP Ausserholligen. The building not only reorganizes the space between Station Europaplatz and the Freiburgstrasse but greatly enhances the previously neglected urban place under the freeway.

2008-2012
Experience living, working, shopping, culture and religion all under one roof at Europaplatz.
At the heart of the building is the ‘House of Religions - Dialogue of Cultures’ a built reality. At Europaplatz social sustainability is lived as an example. The house is the new home for people who have left their original home. It also makes it possible to establishing contact with people from different cultural backgrounds. 8 world religions live and pray together. 5 religious groups have a private prayer area. All this is held together by a common element, the dialogue area where people of different cultures meet, discuss, and celebrate together. The dialogue area also serves as a public platform for questions about religious or cultural topics. The House of religions - Dialogue of Cultures is a globally unique place for conversation and encounter between different population groups and religious communities.
The Europaplatz Centre offers 88 apartments ranging from 1-room apartment to 3.5 bedroom double storied duplex. A generously sized interior residential corridor connects to the efficient dwellings and the interlaced duplex apartments. The building depth of 20m is exploited in order to offer apartments with different typologies (19 types) and diverse qualities.
Besides the apartments, in the main body of the building, are located 2,600sqm office areas, which can be divided into flexible office units. The building depth of 20m allows the organization of many different office typologies.
On the ground level, large shopping centre with various shops and restaurants are oriented directly towards the public square under the highway. Europaplatz emerges as a new urban centre for the neighbourhood and for the commuters who use the places as a transfer hub.
The result is a unity in diversity.