Office market Bern

The supply of available office space in the Bern region increased by 6% compared to the previous year and totals 74,200 m², raising the availability rate mildly from 2.4% to 2.5%. While the Mattenhof-Weissenbühl submarket registered a 6,000 m² contraction in supply, there were measurable increases in Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde (+4,600 m²) and in the city centre (+3,800 m²). However, at a low availability rate of 1.0%, vacant offices in the city centre remain a rarity.

The dynamics in the Bern office market have picked up noticeably. The insurers Vaudoise and Zurich, WSP Engineers and Consultants, the Cantonal Office for Unemployment Insurance, OPO Oeschger, and MTF Solutions already moved into office premises in the newbuild Bern 131 project in 2025. And now SRG has announced that it will vacate its headquarters on Giacomettistrasse in Bern at the end of 2026 and will relocate to Schwarztorstrasse.

Various federal administration relocations are also pending. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is moving into a renovated building at Mühlestrasse 2 in Ittigen and will vacate two locations at Worblentalstrasse 68 in Ittigen and at Monbijoustrasse 40 in Bern. While a conversion is envisaged for the first of the two buildings after the move-out, the second property is to provide space for the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in the future.

After BLS took up tenancy in its new location on Europaplatz, its previous building on Bollwerk was renovated and is slated to serve as workspace in the future for the Federal Finance Administration and the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Finance. The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (DDPS) plans to move into a newly constructed building on Guisanplatz this year. Within the next two years, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) will also move into a brand-new building in Zollikofen, where the last stage of the administrative centre will be completed.

Since 2016, an average of 15,000 m² of new office space has been erected annually in Bern. From 2026 to 2028, construction activity will be more than double this volume. Even though many of the new spaces set to come onto the market soon have already been pre-let, it can nevertheless be assumed that there will be more vacancies in the future.

Download the study “Office Market Switzerland 2026” including further information about the office market Bern.