More space for retail, practice and living
The Bälliz Pharmacy and Drugstore in Thun, a building over 100 years old, has undergone the most extensive refurbishment in its history. It has been completely renovated, with new practice and residential spaces added, as well as a solar panel system.
Following renovation and refurbishment, the Bälliz Pharmacy and Drugstore now benefits from more space and shorter walking distances. According to a press release, everything in the building at Bälliz 42 – which is over 100 years old – has been refurbished, from the basement to the roof, with the exception of the shop itself. The scaffolding was recently removed after a construction period of just under a year and a half.
The pharmacy and chemist’s shop premises have been consolidated across the three floors between the basement and the first floor. More space has been created for the laboratory, as well as for two new medication robots, which can find the correct items from over 18,000 packs and send them straight to the sales area.
The externally let practice rooms are located on the second floor of the historic residential and commercial building. The remaining floors, three to six, now house eight new flats. “We were able to integrate the previously virtually unused inner courtyard into the building and raise the roof slightly, so that the former attic can now also be used as living space,” explains Regula Stähli, a member of the management board of Bälliz Apotheke Drogerie AG.
The building is the first property in Bälliz to feature a photovoltaic system. Heating and cooling are provided by a heat pump powered by water from the River Aare. The listed façade on the Bälliz side has been renovated, whilst the one facing the River Aare has been completely redesigned.
“We are delighted that the scaffolding is gone and that, following the exciting and labour-intensive construction period, everyday life is finally returning to the building,” says Stähli. “We are now accessible to our customers again without any obstacles.”