We develop places for today. And for tomorrow.
A house for several generations is taking shape on the village square in Ins. We show openly how it comes about, even while not every question has an answer yet.
- 01Fair
- 02Transparent
- 03Bold
- 04Committed
One place.One history.One future.
In the heart of Ins, the Bären project is creating a new place for different generations.
Where the burnt-out shell of the former Hotel Bären still stands today, life is meant to return. Not as an isolated building, but as part of the village.
The inn burned down in June 2022. Since then a gap has marked the village square. A gap in exactly the spot where a village usually meets. That is what makes this plot more than a building site.
How closely the house and the square belong together is written into the name itself. The federal inventory ISOS describes Ins as a “typical many-branched village with a central Bärenplatz” (ISOS, Swiss Federal Office of Culture). The village square carries the name of the house whose ruin still stands on it.
- Senior apartments
- 10Senior apartmentsfor ownership
- Family apartments
- 2Family apartmentsfor ownership
- Daycare on the ground floor
- 1Daycare on the ground floorchildcare in the village centre
- Shared energy network
- 1Shared energy networkfor the site and its neighbours
All figures reflect the planning status of August 2026.
What is happening at the Bären.
This is where we record what has been achieved on the Bären project and what comes next.
Illustrative image, not the building in Ins. 2026
OLD FOR YOUNG buys the site
The property developers OLD FOR YOUNG have bought the site of the former Hotel-Restaurant Bären on the village square in Ins. The initiator of the project is the architect Salvatore Cibolini.
Illustrative image. 2026
Soil analyses
The soil analyses have shown that there are no hazardous substances in the ground.
Illustrative image. November 2026
At the Christmas market in Ins
In November OLD FOR YOUNG will be at the Christmas market in Ins.
More than living space.
Good development starts with listening. The Bären project creates space for encounter, exchange and everyday life across generations.
A house with a daycare on the ground floor and senior apartments above works differently from a house full of identical flats. Paths cross whether you plan for it or not. Neighbourhood grows out of those crossings.
Around one in five people in Ins is 65 or older today. Many of them want to stay in the village where they spent their lives. That calls for apartments that fit, and it calls for them in the village, not on its edge.
- Share stories.
- Grow together.
- Meet one another.
- Spend time together.
Where the ruin stands today, life is meant to return.
Not as an isolated building, but as part of the village. Ins is a townscape of national importance. Whatever is built here changes the picture everyone sees every day.
No project takes shape alone.
So that the project fits into the townscape of Ins as well as possible, we work together with the municipality.
The architecture practice Cibolini Architektur GmbH is developing a workshop process together with the municipality. A panel of several people accompanies the process and brings different perspectives to it.
In this way architecture emerges not only for the place, but out of an understanding of the place.
- The brief defined together with the municipality
- Several proposals instead of one finished design
- Assessment by a panel with different points of view
- Heritage conservation involved from the outset
We show how a project takes shape.
The Bären project is under development. Not every question has an answer yet, and that is precisely why we communicate openly.
August 2026
Project start
The site has new owners and development begins.
until February 2027
Workshop phase
Together with the municipality and the specialist authorities, what should be built here is worked out.
until July 2027
Building application
The application is submitted and put on public display.
October 2027
Start of construction
Once the permit is granted, work begins on the village square.
October 2028
Move-in date
The first residents move in.
The timeline reflects the planning status. Procedures, objections and specialist authorities can shift it. We would rather say so openly than promise a date nobody can keep.
Our philosophy.
Four words we let people judge by concrete decisions.
Fair
As equals. We meet people, municipalities and partners with respect and look for solutions that work for everyone involved.
Transparent
Open in the process. We communicate clearly, show our decisions and make development easy to follow.
Bold
Thinking further. We question the usual and look for solutions that serve a place in the long run.
Committed
Beyond the project. We take responsibility for the people, the places and the resources we work with.
A home for every stage of life.
The Bären project creates apartments for different needs and different stages of life.
Ten senior apartments are planned, for ownership. Two family apartments, also for ownership, and a daycare on the ground floor complete the mix. The need is documented: in October 2025 Wüest Partner put the number of additional age-appropriate apartments Switzerland will need by 2040 at around 393,000.
Floor plans, areas and prices have not been set. Anyone who gets in touch now is considered in the order in which they made contact and kept informed as the project moves on.
- 10 senior apartments for ownership
- 2 family apartments for ownership
- 1 daycare on the ground floor
- Barrier-free access as a planning goal: the SIA 500 standard as the floor, plus the planning guidelines “Altersgerechte Wohnbauten” (age-appropriate housing)
What the site can already do.
Sustainability begins with understanding the resources of a place.
A shared energy network is intended to supply not only the project itself but also the surrounding buildings. That uses existing infrastructure and creates value beyond the boundary of the plot.
On top of that comes the simplest form of sustainability: closing a gap in the village centre instead of building on open land. Distances are short, the infrastructure is there and the railway station is in the village.
- Heat
- shared energy network planned
- Reach
- beyond the plot boundary
- Settlement
- inward development, not sprawl
- Access
- Ins station in the village
Ins lies in the Grosses Moos, the wide drained farmland plain of the Bernese Seeland, the lake country west of Bern, between Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel and on the German and French language border. Around 3,900 people live here.
Three railway lines stop in the village. Neuchâtel is about ten to fifteen minutes away, Bern about thirty. School, day school, the residential home for older people, doctors and shops are all within walking distance.
Ins is a townscape of national importance and the birthplace of the painter Albert Anker. Building here on the village square means building into a picture that has grown over centuries.
- residents
- 3,900residentsapproximately
- per cent aged 65 or older
- 22per cent aged 65 or olderapproximately, 826 of 3,777, Federal Statistical Office 2024
- railway lines stop in Ins
- 3railway lines stop in Ins
- minutes to Bern
- 30minutes to Bernapproximately, from Ins station
The state of things.
Five articles, from the fire on the village square to what is meant to be built in the same place. The most recent one comes first.
Project19 August 2026
What is to be built
Ten senior apartments, two family apartments, one daycare on the ground floor and a shared energy network for the project and its surroundings.
Transparency13 August 2026
How we will keep you informed
Not every question has been answered yet, and that is exactly why we communicate openly. Who we write for and how the interest list works.
Project7 August 2026
Project start
The schedule begins. The project starts in August 2026, the workshop process runs until February 2027. What happens during that time and what does not.
OLD FOR YOUNG combines the experience of seasoned entrepreneurs with an eye on the generations to come.
OLD FOR YOUNG, Property development with responsibility
Would you like to know more?
Whether you are interested in an apartment, want to follow the development process or would like to talk to us about the site: we look forward to hearing from you.
Interested parties are considered in the order in which they get in touch.