The city of Bern recently built a new swimming hall in Neufeld and the universities old outdoor boulder basically lost its place. It was lifted to a temporary location by helicopter. The plywood really suffered from the rain and eventually the decision was made to replace the boulder.

I was commissioned with the design of the new boulder and I’m happy the client also chose four large sets of volumes that match with the angles of the edges. The new boulder features a large roof and should be protected from the weather much better than the old design.

The Uni Bern Boulder is likely to be the first outdoor boulder in Switzerland using the brand new and world’s first 100% drainage mat system by Bänfer.

The convex edges of the boulder measure 100° and 140°. The concave edge between the two slabs measures 160°. The volumes have angles between 20° and 80° which allows many interesting combinations. Planes can be extended or the volumes can simply be used in an array to create unique features.

Horizontally aligned panels have been exported for both the volumes and the boulder. The hole pattern on the boulder is 150 x 150 mm and aligned to the most prominent edge of a plane.

The boulder is going to be assembled this autumn and I can’t wait to see it!