Industry

Biel/Bienne has long championed a land development policy that actively promotes business interests. While some companies have expanded on their own land, recent industrial constructions in the Bözingenfeld development zone were made possible after the city made land available to businesses under leasehold arrangements.

Most of the main industrial complexes completed in recent years were built in the Bözingenfeld industrial zone, in the eastern part of the city. They include:

• GF Group Holding SA
• Swatch Group – Omega SA et Swatch SA 
• Manufacture des montres Rolex SA
• SABAG SA

Three industrial buildings are currently under construction: Manufacture des Montres Rolex SA (27,000 m²), Power Integrations Switzerland Sàrl (3,900 m²) and Dexel SA (9,000 m²). 

These companies have all benefited from Bien/Bienne’s proactive land development policy.

GF Group Holding SA

Machine engineering division concentrated in Biel/Bienne

The 450 employees of the GF Machining Solutions division, in the Georg Fischer Group, enjoy state-of-the-art facilities representing an investment of CHF 100 million. The new building, which was inaugurated in 2019 and has a surface area of 44,000 m², now houses both a production and assembly facility (13,000 m²) and the division’s R&D activities. Further expansion to the site is already planned.

Swatch Group – Omega SA et Swatch SA

An iconic watchmaking centre for Swatch Group – efficient and innovative

Three unique buildings designed by world-renowned architect Shigeru Ban have taken their place in Biel/Bienne’s urban landscape. The Omega watchmaking centre, the Swatch headquarters and the two brands’ respective museums, both housed in the downtown “Cité du Temps” complex, were inaugurated between 2017 and 2019. Swatch Group has invested more than CHF 220 million in the city centre to build ultra-modern infrastructure that leads the pack in terms of green design, energy efficiency, power generation and technology. The Swatch building is one of the largest timber-framed buildings ever built.

Manufacture des montres Rolex SA

Finishing touches for an exemplary production site

Since 2012, leading watch brand Rolex has housed all its movement-production activities in Biel/Bienne, in a 92,000 m² building. Rolex is continuing to expand this business location by adding two buildings. 

SABAG SA

A construction heavyweight contributes its building block

This local company, which has been family-owned for more than a century, continues to expand by adding a 4800 m² ultra-modern logistics centre. This CHF 11.5 million investment, made in 2020, has helped SABAG SA to consolidate its position as a leading seller of building materials in Switzerland. 

Innovation and training

The zone between the main railway station and the lakeside is undergoing a facelift as it becomes a fully fledged campus dedicated to innovation, training, communication and services. Companies based in Biel/Bienne enjoy ideal business conditions for launching and seeing through their projects, in a venue identified as one of the six national hotspots for innovation. 

Here are two flagship innovation and training projects that have materialised close to the main railway station: 

• Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne
• Campus of the Bern University of Applied Sciences

Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne

Inauguration of a 15,000 m² building

The Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB) has been expanding rapidly, reinforcing its position in 2021 by moving into premises with a surface area of 15,000 m² close to the main railway station. Supported by private-sector manufacturers, the SIPBB has carved out a place for itself by offering spaces for rent, research activities and technological platforms to the R&D units of manufacturers and service providers. These facilities have brought more high-tech industries to the region and serve as a beacon for highly qualified personnel.

Campus of the Bern University of Applied Sciences

Keystone of the Bahnhof-See district

Opposite the new SIPBB facilities, the Biel/Bienne campus of the Bern University of Applied Science (BFH) will be a mainstay in the zone between the main railway station and the lake. Once construction work has been completed, some 2,650 students and scientists will study and work on this campus. It is one of the largest city-centre construction projects to be carried out in Biel/Bienne in decades.

Completion of this campus – which will house the university’s Technology & IT and Architecture, Timber Engineering & Civil Engineering Departments – will position the BFH as a leading university-level institution in Switzerland. 

The arts and sport

Biel/Bienne is widely renowned for its dynamic, alternative arts scene. Sometimes described as an extension of Brussels or Berlin, the city is home to creatives and artists of all kinds. Its mix of German- and French-speaking cultures and cosmopolitan edge provide an ideal breeding ground for new talent to emerge. 

«Biel/Bienne: it’s like a lost neighbourhood of Berlin, but in Switzerland. [...]»,Andrea Marioni, general manager of Espace libre 2018 - 2020 (Le Temps, 14. Aug. 2018)

Sport also plays an important role in Biel/Bienne, which houses the Swiss Tennis headquarters and the Macolin national sports training centre (located in the hills around the city).

• X-Project
• Nebia
• Gaskessel
• Jan Group Arena (ex Swiss Tennis Arena)
• Tissot Arena
• New athletics stadium

X-Project

Contemporary cultural and youth centre

The X-Project youth and culture centre has been a major part of Biel/Bienne city life for some 20 years. Following recent work, the building on Rennweg has been completely revamped and now boasts a new climbing hall, with space to develop further cultural and sport activities as of 2020.

Nebia

An attractive home for culture

In 2018 work was completed on converting the former Palace cinema into a theatre and opera hall featuring state-of-the-art technology. With its new infrastructure and independent programming, Nebia is an important centre for French-speaking culture with an influence that extends far beyond Biel/Bienne.

La Coupole

An alternative venue with a cult status

The legendary Gaskessel arts centre, situated in the heart of the Esplanade district, will be fully renovated over the next few years.  

Jan Group Arena (ex Swiss Tennis Arena)

An excellent venue for all kinds of events

The Jan Group Arena, the first stadium to host tennis competitions in Switzerland, has a seating capacity of 2,500. It is used as a training venue for Swiss tennis professionals and up-and-coming players from the Swiss Tennis Academy. Thanks to its modular structure, the hall can also host non-sporting events.

Roger Federer, our own national tennis icon, was present at the inauguration of the Jan Group Arena (formerly the Swiss Tennis Arena). Before resuming his record-breaking tour on the WTA circuit, Roger did some training here and had his rackets restrung.

Tissot Arena

A special place for HCB fans

This one-of-a-kind multipurpose sports complex houses a skating ring that can seat 6,500 people and a football stadium with a capacity for 5,200. Open-air sports grounds are also available. A public, open-air skating rink occupies the first floor alongside curling sheets, a restaurant and a multi-screen cinema. There is also a retail area within the complex. The two stadiums are joined by a public covered area.

The winter stadium and the public area can host concerts, exhibitions, conferences, trade fairs and large-scale sporting events. 

New athletics stadium

A gap soon to be filled

The construction of the new athletics stadium is coming along nicely at Long-Champ 1, not far from the Tissot Arena. All the installations will be up-and-running and usable by the end of summer 2021. The venue is designed to host regional and national athletics events. 

Healthcare

An in-depth reorganisation of Biel/Bienne’s healthcare system is in progress. In a few years’ time, a brand-new regional hospital will be open its doors in the Brügg neighbourhood. The Clinique des Tilleuls and the Villa des Tilleuls sport clinic, both part of the Hirslanden group, complete the picture of the city’ first-class hospital treatment.

• New Bienne/Brügg hospital

New Bienne/Brügg hospitalg

A step into the future

This project is not simply about building a new hospital that will serve the region and beyond. It will include the installation of a sizeable green area for promoting biodiversity near the banks of the Nidau-Büren canal. A large area with a sports complex for indoor and outdoor activities will offer attractive possibilities for leisure, sport and relaxation.

Emergence of mixed-use, sustainable residential neighbourhoods 

New mixed-used neighbourhoods are emerging from former brownfield sites in and around the city centre. These neighbourhoods are designed to be innovative and sustainable and broaden the supply of high-quality city-centre accommodation, hotels and retail spaces together with workshops and office space.

• Jardin du Paradis and Schüss Island
• Esplanade
• Taubenloch Gorge
• Gurzelen
• AGGLOlac

Jardin du Paradis and Schüss Island

Multi-award-winning urban design

A publicly accessible 53,500 m² park has been created in the fast-moving Gurzelen district the Schüss Island. The award-winning park area on the riverbanks dovetails perfectly with the Jardin du Paradis 279-unit residential complex. This project received the Flâneur d’Or 2017 award from the Swiss pedestrian association, the Goldener Hase 2017 award from architecture magazine Hochparterre, in the landscape architecture category, and was nominated by the Radix Foundation in 2020 for the ‘Healthy City Award’.

Esplanade

First-class urban living in Biel/Bienne’s «Central Park»

The Kongresshaus – an architectural icon in the city’s urban landscape – has witnessed a radical change in its environs. Once a brownfield site in the city centre, it is fast becoming a great place for shopping and hang-outs. It also features a variety of housing units together with a hotel complex.

This transformation is already under way, as seen in the Kongresshaus Esplanade’s concrete open space and five pools. The five-hill space on the Laure-Wyss Esplanade now provides plenty of greenery for the area, while a 500-space underground car park rounds out this urban development project.

Just one of the planned residential complexes has been built so far, with the rest due for completion in 2024. In all, more than 280 apartments and just under 7,000 m² in business and office space will be added to the city’s real estate. The Esplanade will also feature a three-star hotel and a restaurant.

The nearby Gaskessel, a nationally renowned concert venue, will undergo a planned renovation and refurbishment in the near future. 

Taubenloch Gorge

An apart-hotel and residential units for a neighbourhood with burgeoning creativity

The centre of the Bözingen district, on the city’s east side, has undergone a major upgrade in recent years thanks to substantial private investment in public facilities. Just after the point where the Taubenloch Gorge emerges spectacularly from the southern side of the Jura, Eiffage Suisse SA is due to build a residential complex comprising a 69-unit tower block and an apart-hotel hosting 42 micro-flats. The Bözingenfeld industrial zone, together with companies and tradespeople in the Gurzelen district, will gain from this extra capacity for business travellers starting from 2023/2024.

Gurzelen

Development in several stages

The makeover continues for the Gurzelen district. New urban venues will be made available to the public, close to the new Swatch and Omega buildings and the Schüss Island park area. The two mixed-neighbourhood projects, one of which is an innovative cooperative housing project, will be developed in stages over the coming years. The results of the architecture competition for building the first phase (Fleur de la Champagne) were published on 1 July 2021 (see project description – French or German only).

AGGLOlac

A project in the making

This planned neighbourhood will create a high-potential urban area situated between the bay and the Nidau castle, consisting of a mixed-use area spanning 300,000 m². The project contours are still under discussion.