One place. One history. One future.
In the heart of Ins, the Bären project is creating a new place for different generations.
- Location
- Village square, Ins BE
- Use
- Housing, daycare, energy
- Architecture
- Cibolini Architektur GmbH
- Status
- In development
- senior apartments
- 10senior apartmentsFor ownership
- family apartments
- 2family apartmentsFor ownership
- daycare on the ground floor
- 1daycare on the ground floorOperator not yet settled
- shared energy network for the project and its surroundings
- 1shared energy network for the project and its surroundingsTechnology will be defined during planning
All figures reflect the planning status of August 2026. The project is in development. Numbers, split and uses may still change during the workshop process. No building application has been submitted and no permit has been granted.
In the heart of Ins
The site lies on the village square in Ins, in the middle of the Bernese Seeland, the lake country west of Bern. This square is not an edge of the village, it is the centre of the municipality. The municipal administration has its address here, the paths from the neighbourhoods meet here, and this is where people stop and talk to each other.
In the federal inventory this square is named after the house whose ruin still stands on it: ISOS describes Ins as a “typical many-branched village with a central Bärenplatz” (ISOS, Swiss Federal Office of Culture). The Bären is therefore not one building on the square, it is the building the square is named after. That is why this gap weighs more heavily than an ordinary vacant plot.
That is exactly why one single plot occupies the whole village. An empty parcel on the outskirts hardly catches anyone's eye. A burnt-out building at the most important address in the municipality is seen by everyone, every day, for years. Anyone who shops in Ins, walks to school or waits for a train passes by it.
There is also the framework in which building takes place here. Ins is a townscape of national importance. That is not a formality: the municipal building regulations define their own townscape protection zones, and for objects listed in the building inventory, the cantonal heritage conservation office is the assessing authority. Building here means building within a context older than any single house.
For us that means the Bären project does not begin with a design, but with the place. With the question of what the village square can carry, what it lacks and what it has long been able to do. We do not look for those answers alone, but together with the municipality and the specialist authorities.
- Municipality
- Ins, in French Anet
- Postcode
- 3232
- District
- Seeland, canton of Bern
- Townscape
- Of national importance
What stood here
The Hotel-Restaurant Bären stood on the village square in Ins. The landlord Ruedi Walter ran it for close to fifty years. In a village like Ins, an inn on the square is never just a restaurant: it is a meeting point, a clubhouse and the hall for the occasions that hold a village together.
On 21 June 2022 the building burned. Around 120 firefighters were on site. The roof structure burned out completely, and the fire was kept from spreading to the neighbouring buildings. Nobody was injured. The house was empty and under renovation at the time.
Since then a burnt-out building has stood on the village square. The building is a protected object. In August 2026 the property developers OLD FOR YOUNG bought the site. The standstill is over and the work begins.
- 21 June 2022: fire at the Hotel-Restaurant Bären on the village square
- Around 120 firefighters on site, nobody was injured
- Roof structure burned out completely, neighbouring buildings spared
Where the burnt-out building still stands, life is to return.
Not as an isolated building, but as part of the village. A house on the square belongs to the square, and the square belongs to the people who live there.
What is to be built
Six elements that belong together. None of them works on its own, and none of them is settled in every detail today.
Housing
Ten senior apartments
The largest part of the house is to be given over to apartments for older people. They are meant for people from Ins who want to hand over their house but not leave their village. Ten units are planned, for ownership.
- 01Ten units planned
- 02For ownership
- 03Floor plans and prices still open
Housing
Two family apartments
A house in which only one generation lives is not yet a piece of village. Two family apartments are therefore planned, to be sold. They deliberately sit in the same project as the senior apartments and not in a separate block next door. People who meet in the stairwell every morning know each other after a year.
- 01Two apartments for ownership
- 02In the same project as the senior apartments
- 03Number of rooms not yet fixed
Ground floor
A daycare on the ground floor
A daycare is planned for the ground floor. It brings people to the square in the morning and in the evening and turns an address into everyday life. For the senior apartments in the same building it is the shortest way to children who would otherwise only be heard on the phone. Operator, size and running of the daycare are not yet settled.
- 01Planned on the ground floor
- 02Operator not yet settled
- 03Coordinated with what the village already offers
Parking
An underground car park with 16 spaces
To take pressure off the village square, 16 underground parking spaces are planned. The four parking spaces that already exist today can still be used by the village centre, to drop off children or for a quick shop.
- 0116 underground parking spaces planned
- 02Takes pressure off the village square
- 03Four existing parking spaces remain for the village centre
Energy
A shared energy network
Sustainability begins with understanding the resources of a place. A shared energy network is to supply not only the project itself, but also the surrounding buildings. This uses existing infrastructure and creates value beyond the boundaries of the plot. Which technology is used in the end will be decided during planning.
- 01Supplies the project and neighbouring buildings
- 02Uses existing infrastructure
- 03Technology not yet fixed
Encounter
A ground floor that belongs to the village
Good development begins with listening. The Bären project creates room for encounter, exchange and a togetherness of the generations. This is decided on the ground floor: what happens there determines whether a house stands on the square or belongs to it. Which uses join the daycare is part of the workshop process.
- 01Sharing stories, growing together
- 02Uses defined in the workshop process
- 03Results will be communicated openly
Part of the village, not a foreign body
Ins is a townscape of national importance, and the municipal building regulations define their own townscape protection zones. For objects listed in the building inventory, the cantonal heritage conservation office is the assessing authority. Both apply to the Bären: it stands in the middle of the village core, and it is a protected object.
How things are to continue is on public record as well. The reconstruction is to be planned in workshops together with heritage and landscape conservation, the investors and the municipality. That takes longer than a design at the drawing board, and that is precisely the point.
So that the project fits into the townscape of Ins as well as possible, we work together with the municipality. The architecture office Cibolini Architektur GmbH is developing a workshop with the municipality. A jury of several people accompanies the process and brings in different perspectives.
In this way architecture is created not only for the place, but out of an understanding of the place. And it will be possible later to follow why a house looks the way it looks.
- Townscape of national importance
- Cantonal heritage conservation office as the assessing authority
- Workshops with heritage conservation, the investors and the municipality
- A jury of several people accompanies the process
What we are talking about
The project is in development. There are no visualisations yet that could promise anything. These images therefore do not show the future building, but what it is all about.
At last things are moving forward.
Kurt Stucki, mayor of Ins, Berner Zeitung, August 2026
What people in Ins ask us
Honest answers, including where the answer is still open. What we do not know, we do not write.
What happens to the burnt-out building?
The initiator of the Bären Ins project was Salvatore Cibolini, who spent his childhood in Ins and is still closely connected to the village. He motivated the property developers OLD FOR YOUNG, who bought the burnt-out building in August 2026. The reconstruction is to be planned in workshops together with heritage and landscape conservation, the investors and the municipality. What can be kept of the existing fabric and what cannot will be decided in that process, together with the cantonal heritage conservation office. As soon as there is a result, we will communicate it here.
When will construction start?
The schedule foresees a project start in August 2026, a workshop phase until February 2027, the ordinary building application by July 2027, the start of construction in October 2027 and the move-in date in October 2028. That is a plan, not a promise. To date no building application has been submitted and no permit has been granted. Delays are possible for a project in this position, and we will communicate them openly.
Will the character of the village square be preserved?
That is the standard the project will be measured against. Ins is a townscape of national importance, the municipal building regulations define their own townscape protection zones, and for objects in the building inventory the cantonal heritage conservation office assesses the project. A new building that does not fit into this framework is not in our interest.
Will there be a restaurant in the Bären again?
No. First and foremost, senior apartments and family apartments will be built. A daycare is being considered, very much in the spirit of OLD FOR YOUNG.
How will I be kept informed?
Through this website. We record the status of the project here, including when there is nothing pleasing to report. In addition, the municipality provides its ordinary information as soon as the process reaches the corresponding steps. Anyone who would like regular updates can send us a short message and we will note the address.
Can I register interest in an apartment?
Yes, you can register your interest at any time. Interested parties are considered in the order in which they get in touch. Registering interest is neither a reservation nor a contract: floor plans and sale prices are not available yet, and we do not quote figures we would have to correct later. As soon as concrete documents exist, we will contact the people on the list first.
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.