Tramdepot Bern
The Tramdepot Bern is a strip-shaped hall with a glass and aluminum shell. With its simple form, it succeeds in accommodating both the demands in terms of economy and organization as well as the external constraints of the tight, oblique-angled perimeter and giving it a concise form.
Staging
The expansion of the streetcar depot was conceived in several stages as early as the 2007 competition. With the expansion of the city‘s streetcar network, a denser timetable and new, longer streetcars, the need for depot capacity increased. Ten years after completion of the first stage, construction work therefore began on the second stage. This consists of expanding the depot from seven to a total of 15 sidings in the direction of Bolligenstrasse. In a third stage - not yet scheduled - an extension of eight workshop tracks is planned.
Construction
The extension will increase the span in the stabling area from 45 to 72 meters and in the workshop area from 68 to 95 meters. The considerable span for the column-free extension of the parking area was achieved with the gradual growth of the truss girders, which then function according to the principle of crane jibs. The main forces are absorbed by a middle row of columns, while the façade columns on the shorter span side are transformed from compression members to tension members with the extension.
Energy concept / sustainability
The extensive glazing in the truss levels of the beams and in the façades also ensures optimum lighting conditions and allows the hall to be operated without a heating system thanks to the solar radiation. To prevent overheating in summer, the SHEV flaps in the lower façade area (supply air) and in the high sheds (exhaust air) can be opened for night-time cooling. Rainwater is directed from the roof into the side gutters via the sloping surfaces of the longitudinal façades, from where it is fed into the washing system. A 3,600 m² photovoltaic system on the sloping roof surfaces complements the building‘s sustainability claim.
Building envelope
The geometry of the hall results from the operational need for a maximum, column-free parking area. The roofing is supported over the entire length of the hall of around 200 meters by a shed roof structure made of steel trusses with spans of up to 90m (stage 3). A single row of columns separates the parking area from the service area with car wash, wheel processing area and maintenance building. The lifting doors of the front façade with door heights of up to 10m open and close vertically. The inner and outer supports are arranged in a V-shape for longitudinal reinforcement. They form a basic design motif in the structure and rhythm of the façade and thus characterize the overall appearance of the building. The external appearance of the hall is characterized by the lightness of the glass-aluminium shell. The use of white glass, the special surface structure and the staggered installation method result in a changing sculptural expression depending on the light.
