A complex of public buildings, consisting of the eclectic so-called Amthaus (local court administration building) and the neo-Romanesque prison. These edifices are a good example of late historicist official architecture, which reflects both the thoughtful investment policy of the Canton of Bern, taking into account both the need for a coherent visual representation and the need to emphasise the economical handling of public funds.

The complex is located in the north-western part of the city, close to the railway station, on a former industrial site near the canals of the Schüss River. Its location bears witness to the spatial development of Biel in the last quarter of the 19th century (the former seat of the Amthaus was located in a building in the Old Town, situated to the northeast of the refused complex).

Situated deep within the plot, the two-winged prison building housed 17 double men's cells and 15 women's cells, separated by two servants' flats in the middle. This functional layout is reflected in the façades of the building, with a relatively richly ornamented central risalit surmounted by a crenellation and austere in expression side parts, pierced by small cell windows. Typical of historicism, the reference to medieval defensive architecture emphasises the inaccessibility of the building.

Situated directly on the street, the Amthaus met the requirements of representativeness with a skilful combination of references to the French Baroque (particularly evident in the high mansard roof and the relatively ornate part of the central risalit) and the near-Classical austerity of part of the façade (especially the courtroom complex in the right wing). The whole appeared close to the French architecture of the École des Beaux-Arts. but remained much more restrained and modest.

Technical data: stone, brick, rendered and brick-faced buildings.