architek[tour] tirol – der architekturführer für tirol

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innsbruck today - a walk through the city

Thinking of Innsbruck’s city centre, most people spontaneously would think of the historical buildings in the Old Town, of baroque palaces and Gruenderzeit blocks. And of course they are right – partly. Still, they would have missed something essential: Over the last decades, there has been a thrust of modernisation. New public buildings for administrative, cultural, academic or medical institutions convey urban flair while, on the other hand, ambitious refurbishments of shops or restaurants and cafés prove that it is possible to preserve valuable building structures adding new meaning and atmosphere.

Starting at the Adambräu brewery, this tour offers a walk through the city centre, passing by contemporary building that mostly are open to the public. And, more often than not, you will find something to see, to eat or to drink.

Übersichtskarte ausblenden
a tour to 50 buildings
01

Adambräu Brewery

Lois-Welzenbacher-Platz 1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl, Giner + Wucherer (2003-2004) Builder-owner: Stadt Innsbruck Open to the public: Tue-Fri 11 a.m.–6 p.m, Thu 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Sat 11 a.m.–5 p.m. (aut); by appointment only (University Architecture Archive) Accessibility: Close to the Central Station on Südbahnstraße, entrance from the courtyard in the back of the building
Tel. +43 (512) 57 15 67 (aut)
Tel. +43 (512) 507 33101 (Archiv für Baukunst)

This part of the former Adambräu brewery, a landmark industrial building of classical modernism by Lois Welzenbacher, came under the federal law on the protection of monuments when the brewery closed down. Most respectful, nearly invisible interventions turned the functionalist structure into what might be described as a pulsating machine to convey architecture. On the lower floors,aut. architektur und tirol continually proposes exhibitions and lectures on contemporary architecture, the upper floors are occupied by the University Architecture Archive.

© Lukas Schaller
02

Landhaus 2 (new seat of the regional administration)

Heiliggeiststraße 7-9, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: fpa frank und probst architekten, Walter Schwetz Architekt (2003-2005) Builder-owner: L2 Errichtungs- und VermietungsgesmbH Open to the public: partly TIP: "Landhaus 2” Café and restaurant with terrace

When the municipal corporation IKB decided to move workshops and warehouses, demolishing the old buildings in the backyard of the company headquarter, this was an opportunity for the regional government to concentrate some services formerly scattered over various places. At the same time, it was possible to create new public spaces and passages to link the city centre with the Wilten district. The offices are grouped around three green interior courtyards with glass roofs, an atrium doubling as the central lounge and two more passage-like entrances guarantee easy accessibility for the public.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
03

Restaurant Pippilotta

Heiliggeiststraße 7-9, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: he und du (2022) Builder-owner: Lebenshilfe Tirol gem. GmbH Open to the public: Monday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. TIP: The kitchen offers newly interpreted regional products.

Since 2010, people with disabilities have found a job in a restaurant run by Lebenshilfe Tirol in Innsbruck Landhaus 2. The starting point for the conversion was the wish for more flexible event options in the dining area and the creative implementation of the motto "eat colorfully.” The architects implemented these requirements with the help of curtain panels in two colors, which allow different room configurations quickly and easily and fulfill the desired color scheme.

© he und du
04

Central Transformer Station

Salurnerstraße 11, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: UNStudio (1999-2000) Builder-owner: Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe AG Open to the public: no Next to the transformer station there is Innsbruck’s first high-rise building, designed by Lois Welzenbacher in 1926/27.

For the Amsterdam UN Studio (Ben van Berkel and Caroline Boss), this was the first international competition they won. The sculpturally carved building boasts an outer skin of black basalt, rising out of an environment of blackened concrete. The interior is, of course, not open to the public, it hosts the transformers and the control centre that are part of the essential infrastructure of the city.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
05

Eduard-Wallnöfer-Square

Eduard Wallnöfer Platz, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: LAAC, Stiefel Kramer Architecture (2010-2011) Builder-owner: Land Tirol Opposite the "Landhaus” (former Gauhaus) the Liberation Monument built from 1946 – 48, an initiative of the French occupying power, updated during the redevelopment of the square by Christopher Grüner with 107 names of National Socialism resistance victims.

Der Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz, der lange ein "Hinterhofdasein" führte, wurde von LAAC Architekten/stiefel kramer zu einer begehbaren, urbanen Bodenplastik umgestaltet. Der Platz, seine Denkmäler und vorhandene Infrastruktureinrichtungen wurden in eine homogene Oberfläche aus hellem Beton eingebunden – eine Topographie aus sanften Hügeln, die neue Blickbeziehungen schafft und den InnsbruckerInnen eine vielfältig bespielbare Freifläche bietet.

© Günter R. Wett
06

Leopoldstraße Conversion (Greif Furniture House)

Leopoldstraße 1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Architekt Christoph Schwaighofer, Benedikt Gratl (2012-2014) Builder-owner: Triumphpforten Immobilien GmbH Open to the public: partially TIP: On the ground floor is a "Vapiano” chain restaurant.

Erected directly behind the Triumphal Arch in the 1980s, the "Möbelhaus Greif” ("Greif Furniture House”) was converted after several user changes into a residential, office and shop building. The paramount goal of the conversion measures was to react with a conservatively designed structure at a prominent location in the middle of historical buildings. Among other things, the structured concrete-prefab façade was taken down and replaced by a considerably more toned-down façade design, which enables the texture of its thick mineral plaster surface to haptically emerge.

© Aria Sadr-Salek
07

Sporthaus Okay (sports store)

Maria-Theresien-Straße 47, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Tatanka (2003-2004) Builder-owner: Wintersport Tirol Open to the public: Mo-Fri 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sa 9 a.m.–5 p.m. TIP: From the store, you can walk out on the small wooden balcony overlooking Maria-Theresien-Straße and get a unique view of Innsbruck’s "showcase”

The cubic structure, and its translucent skin – an alien here – provoked controversial discussions. This 21st century building asserts itself, un-self-consciously, against the adjacent baroque Taxis palace, the Servites’ Church across the street, and the square in front of the seat of the regional government behind. And still it sensitively fits into the urban tissue, respecting proportions and historical axes and throughways.

© Paul Ott
08

Galerie im Taxispalais (art gallery alterations and additions)

Maria-Theresien-Straße 45, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Hanno Schlögl (1998-1999) Builder-owner: Land Tirol Open to the public: Tue-Sun 11a.m.-6 p.m., Thu until 8 p.m. TIP: Internationally renowned contemporary art exhibitions

Since the 1960’s, the Taxis palace, built around 1690 by J. M. Gumpp the Elder, hosts the Region’s contemporary art gallery. To create additional space for exhibitions, a new hall was carved into the courtyard of the baroque palace that now – not unlike in a pond – is mirrored in the glass roof of the new underground hall. That kind of interaction between the historical ensemble and contemporary intervention is characteristic of the entire project, so art exhibitions have found an architecturally fascinating location.

© Margherita Spiluttini
09

Restructuring of the Maria-Theresien-Straße

Maria-Theresien-Straße, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: AllesWirdGut (2008-2009) Builder-owner: Stadt Innsbruck

With the objective of doing Innsbruck’s important boulevard justice in terms of design, a project, won by AllesWirdGut, was put up for tender in 2006. With a carpet-like design for the road surface made up of four different types of granite, furnishing made of brass and a differentiated lighting concept, the architects created a location full of atmosphere, which at the same time is a street and a square.

© AllesWirdGut
10

Department Store "Kaufhaus Tyrol"

Maria-Theresien-Straße 29–35, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: David Chipperfield, DMArchitekten (2008-2010) Builder-owner: Maria-Theresien-Straße Grundverwertungs GmbH Open to the public: during shop opening hours TIP: Located in the basement is an MPREIS supermarket designed by Rainer Köberl.

In the past years hardly any building scheme in Innsbruck sparked such heated discussions as the various projects for the new construction of the Kaufhaus Tirol (Tyrol Department Store). David Chipperfield was ultimately commissioned to not only design the "show front” on Maria-Theresien-Straße, but also the entire department store complex. In a respectful handling of the historical substance, he placed a decidedly restrained structure into the heterogeneous street ensemble, whose elongated façade is structured by a double bend and a recessed top floor.

© B&R
11

MPREIS in the Kaufhaus TYROL

Maria-Theresien-Straße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2009-2010) Builder-owner: MPREIS, Baguette, Sensei, Del'iris Open to the public: during opening hours Accessibility: Basement of the TYROL department store TIP: Ideal for the in between meal

Similar to the Innsbruck main railway station, the architects were presented with the challenge of adapting a representative branch of the Tyrolean MPREIS chain to fit into a cellar without daylight. Here, such as at the railway station, a ceiling of mirrors removes the room’s boundaries thereby highlighting the goods. Untreated wooden floor, white "islands of distinctiveness” and heavy round pillars, which due to the mirrors appear as tall light-pillars in a mighty hall, all influence this new "flagship store” situated in the Kaufhaus TYROL.

© Lukas Schaller
12

Rathausgalerien – City Hall and shopping mall

Maria-Theresien-Straße 18, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Dominique Perrault, ATP architekten ingenieure, RPM Architekten (1999-2002) Builder-owner: Rathauspassage GmbH Open to the public: Sun-Thu 7 a.m. to midnight; Fri, Sat 7 a.m.–2. a.m. (Mall) TIP: Take the elevator up the "City Hall Campanile” tower for the view from the "360°” café or the "Lichtblick” restaurant on the 7th floor, or go the "5th Floor” bar of the adjacent "The Penz” hotel.

What formerly used to be just a parking lot in the back of the old City Hall now has become an exciting mix of heterogeneous functions: city administration, city council, shopping mall, a hotel and various restaurants and cafés. Intelligently graded heights, a glass roof for the mall, plus a central "Campanile” – these are the main characteristics of an unpretentious and still very outspoken ensemble that easily and fluently manages to integrate the pre-existing older buildings and to connect to the cityscape around it.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
13

Café Weinbar Lounge 360°

Maria-Theresien-Straße 18, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Dominique Perrault (2002) Open to the public: Mo-Sa 10 a.m,-1 a.m. Accessibility: Elevator from the central crossing of the City Hall mall to the top floor

Here, Dominique Perrault, architect of the new City Hall and mall, created a public space over the roofs of the city. With glass walls all around, nothing interferes with the perfect view over the roofs and cupolas of the city centre, over old and new towers, to the mountain tops. Not an everyday sight, but a place to rest for a while.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
14

Apartment and office building Anichstraße

Anichstraße 8, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Dominique Perrault, Rolf Reichert (2002-2004) Builder-owner: Rathauspassage GmbH, Hans Rubatscher Open to the public: The ground floor passage from the mall to Anichstraße is open Sun-Thu 7 a.m. to midnight; Fri and Sat 7 a.m.-2. a.m. On the 2nd floor there is Dr. Grubwieser’s medical studio by Rainer Köberl-

Next to Perrault’s City Hall and mall, a private investor commissioned an apartment and office building on Anichstraße, the ground floor passage also serves as the southern entrance to the mall. Here, Perrault designed a tower in different shades of dark colours, with a 20 m golden metal curtain in front - an allusion, of course, to the famous Golden Roof - that stages a striking entrance to the mall, since this was not possible on Maria-Theresien-Straße, out of respect for the conservation of monuments.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
15

Momoness Take-Away

Anichstraße 10, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2019-2020) Builder-owner: MOMONESS KG Open to the public: During business hours Tip: The house specialty is momos, typical Nepalese dumplings.

In a 17 m2-large shop, Rainer Köberl set up a Nepalese take-away for Dil Ghamal – a building owner for whom the architect had already planned the "Sensei” and "Meer Sensei” sushi bars. The space is kept in the basic silver color. Its dark walnut, mirror and a Sanskrit proverb on the wall exude a touch of Nepal.

© Lukas Schaller
16

krischan panoptikum

Stainerstraße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Giner + Wucherer (2006) Builder-owner: krischan panoptikum Open to the public: The shop is open Mo-Fri 9 a.m-6 p.m., Sat 10 a.m-1 p.m.

The entrance and the shop rooms of an old building, which comes under the federal law on the protection of monuments, had to be adapted to house an optician’s shop. The long main room, with a baroque vault, was returned, as far as possible, to its original state. A sculptural piece of furniture with a tapestry of red felt, and a working table covered by green rubber stand free of the walls to counterpoint the historical brickwork.

© Günter R. Wett
17

Stage 12 – Hotel by Penz

Maria-Theresien-Straße 12, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Baumschlager Hutter Partners (2016-2017) Open to the public: Partially Tip: External guests are also welcome in the Stage Bar with an outdoor dining area.

The hotel is an example of high-quality redensification right in the heart of Innsbruck. On the one hand, the façade of the existing building on Maria-Theresien-Straße was restored, the old building gutted inside and completely reorganized. On the other hand, a new structure that responds to the neighboring development as a narrow block with a concluding head building went up in the inner courtyard.

© Albrecht I. Schnabel
18

Sensei – Sushibar zum Roten Fisch

Maria-Theresien- Straße 11, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2006-2007) Builder-owner: Brunhilde Fröschl, Dil Ghamal Open to the public: daily noon-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-11 p.m. TIP: Make sure you sit in the oriel, and then enjoy the view and your sushi.

A former office on the first floor of a house, again listed under the federal law on the protection of monuments, was turned into a restaurant where one can take part, as it were, in the visual and acoustic drama that is happening in the street, and then switch effortlessly to concentrating on the works of art provided by the kitchen. The wide oriel window in front is as much part of the street’s public space as it works as a theatre box to look out from within, from an interior space characterised by black panels and various kinds of dark wood.

© Lukas Schaller
19

'MANNA' Delikatessencafé

Maria-Theresien-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2004) Builder-owner: Hansjörg Kuen, Siegfried Spögler Open to the public: Mo-Sat 8 a.m-8 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

A very urbane, if not metropolitan café in a 15th century building listed as a monument? Yes, that is what the "Manna" is. The narrow room, partly stretching over two storeys, is virtually subdivided by a rather complex spatial organisation, the materials – predominantly oak and black glass – contrast the historical substance.

© Lukas Schaller
20

Tourist Information Center

Burggraben 3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Manfred Sandner, Betina Hanel (2017-2018) Builder-owner: Tourismusverband Innsbruck und seine Feriendörfer Open to the public: Mo to Sa, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In 2020, the project received a Recognition Award of the State of Tyrol for New Building.

For many years now, the Innsbruck Tourist Information Center has been located in a former stable building directly adjacent to the city wall. In the course of the renovation and redesign, the interior was cleared of later fixtures, the historic vaulted ceiling exposed, the original floor level restored and a barrier-free access in the form of a concrete ramp placed in the Renaissance hall. In order to restore the character of a city wall, the large arched windows were closed flush with the façade with perforated ceramic tiles.

© Günter Kresser
21

Bonsai Sushi Bar

Burggraben 17, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2014) Builder-owner: Devta Ghamal Open to the public: During the restaurant opening times Rainer Köberl likewise planned the "Il Convento” Italian restaurant a few doors down.

A two-story restaurant space created in the 1980s was adapted for a new tenant. Due to the limited financial possibilities, many elements of the interior design (gray tile floors, suspended plasterboard ceilings) had to be retained. The design approach developed out of this pragmatism painted all the surfaces gray and set vibrant colored accents with the furnishings.

© Lukas Schaller
22

Swarovski Innsbruck

Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 39, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Schlögl & Süß Architekten (2011) Builder-owner: D. Swarovski KG Open to the public: during opening hours Artworks by Thomas Feuerstein, Erwin Redl

In a listed house going back to the Gothic period, Schlögl & Süß Architekten realized a new shop for the Swarovski Crystal Worlds. Changes were hardly made on the outside, but the inside was completely restructured and newly designed. Visitors are guided in a one-way system through a sequence of rooms staged by Swarovski in which the new interior architecture and the historic building fabric are contraposed.

© Markus Bstieler
23

Renovation of the Innsbruck City Tower

Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 21, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Hanno Vogl-Fernheim (2014-2017) Builder-owner: IIG Open to the public: Monday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tip: The 31-meter-high platform offers a view of the medieval lanes and the mountain panorama around Innsbruck.

Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, the City Tower is one of Innsbruck’s oldest landmarks, and the viewing platform a popular place for locals and tourists. In the course of the renovation, a free-standing double helix with an open stairwell was realized. Not only does it direct the flow of visitors, but is itself an impressive spatial sculpture in the freed-up tower interior.

© David Schreyer
24

Office building Badgasse

Herzog-Otto-Straße 8, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Johann Obermoser (1990-1991) Builder-owner: Domgalerie Bau-ProjektgmbH

On the edge of the Old Town, an empty lot left over from the war was filled with a sharply cut austere cube which ostensibly did not even try to fake stylistic allusions to fit in with the surroundings, although the volume, the materials and some details do interact nicely with the historic environment. The front conspicuously completes the "city wall” surrounding the Old Town, an interior courtyard leaves enough free space so as not to interfere with a neighbouring neo-baroque palace, and an old house at the back was refurbished and integrated with the new office space.

© Christian Bartenbach
25

Hungerburg Cable Railway – The Congress, Löwenhaus, Apine Zoo und Hungerburg stations

Rennweg 3 (Talstation Congress), 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Zaha Hadid Architects (2005-2007) Builder-owner: INKB Open to the public: daily 8:30 a.m.–17:30 p.m (when the cable car is running)

After the Bergisel ski jump, the four station buildings and the oblique suspension bridge across the river make up the second project Zaha Hadid realised in Innsbruck. Starting from the fundamental concept of a shell and the shadow thrown by it, she designed an organically shaped glass shell over a concrete landscape, the translucent roof spreading and extending, as it were, the stations’ spaces, thus staging a drama of movement adapted to the particular character of each location.

© Norbert Freudenthaler
26

Probebühnen des Tiroler Landestheaters (rehearsal stages)

Rennweg 2, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: karl+probst (2002-2003) Builder-owner: Tiroler Landestheater, Landesbaudirektion Tirol The square in front of the theatre was designed by Wich architects in cooperation with terra.nova landscape architects.

After long years of having to cope with a lack of working space, finally the rehearsal stages and workshops were transferred to an annex building. The various functions can easily be read from the outside as an addition of various different spatial structures, the piled-up units are obviously inviting future additions whenever necessary.

© Gerhard Hagen
27

House of Music

Universitätsstraße 1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Erich Strolz, Dietrich | Untertrifaller (2015-2018) Builder-owner: IIG Open to the public: Partially during opening hours Tip: "Das Brahms Restaurant” on the ground floor

Innsbruck’s "House of Music” can be found at one the most central locations in the inner city, where the city concert halls and chamber theater housed in the previous building were combined with numerous institutions dedicated to music. The complex spatial program is accommodated in a compact structure with a multilayered façade made of ceramic cladding. Emerging as independent elements, the publicly accessible hall bodies clearly distinguish themselves from those areas used for research, teaching and administration.

© Roland Halbe
28

SOWI – Faculties of Social Sciences and Economics

Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Henke Schreieck Architekten (1996-1999) Builder-owner: BIG Open to the public: partly The neighbouring building "MCI" was also designed by Henke and Schreieck.

The new Social Sciences and Economics building is a most important urban joint between the Old Town and the historical park of the Imperial Garden, widely commended not only as a great work of architecture, but as an achievement in urban development. Formerly, the massive military barracks had virtually occupied all the available space, tightly closing itself off from the street, now there is a vital public space, a truly "open university” in the heart of the city centre.

© Margeritha Spiluttini
29

BG/BRG Sillgasse

Sillgasse 10, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: SOLID architecture (2019-2021) Builder-owner: BIG TIP: A new pedestrian connection leads along Paul-Hofhaimer-Gasse in the west to the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum.

The new school building in the densely built-up centre of Innsbruck provides a differentiated range of rooms despite the necessary compactness. The building is divided into three parts by trapezoidal incisions, which are connected on the side facing away from the street by balcony zones that provide the pupils with a kind of vertical schoolyard.

© Günter R. Wett
30

Volksschule Innere Stadt (Central elementary school)

Angerzellgasse 12, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Thomas Schnizer, Gerald Prenner (2003-2005) Builder-owner: BIG Open to the public: The garden between the school, the old university building and the Jesuits’ College.

What formerly had been the university botanic garden is now a park-like public green with old trees right in the centre of town. By situating the transparent structure of the new elementary school along Angerzellgasse, and by building three underground gyms – which are used by the adjacent high school as well – it was possible not to disturb the park as a peaceful "green island” in the hectic inner city.

© Martin Tusch
31

TREIBHAUS (cultural centre)

Angerzellgasse 8, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Reinhardt Honold, Rainer Köberl, Raimund Rainer, Gerhard Manzl (1986) Builder-owner: Norbert Pleifer Open to the public: The café and restaurant Mo-Sat 10 a.m.-1 a.m., Sun 4 p.m-1 a.m TIP: Concerts, theatrical performances, cabaret – sometimes even for free.

This cultural centre – the name literally translates as "greenhouse” – was planted in the city centre in the 1980’s. The hermetic octagonal structure made out of dark Lecca stones was to symbolise the stubbornly provocative mind of the then young and ever-belligerent impresario. Since then, the building was enlarged and also, in a way, "opened”, by Reinhard Honold, in 2001, and has become, together with the events staged there, a well-established part of the city’s cultural life.

© Ing. Hans Lang
32

liber wiederin

Erlerstraße 6, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Werner Burtscher, Maki Ortner (2012) Builder-owner: Wiederin Buchhandel GmbH Open to the public: Mon. to Sat. during shop opening hours TIP: Events regularly take place in the bookshop.

Past the bookshop planned by Rainer Köberl on Innsbruck’s Sparkassenplatz is "liber wiederin”, a business premises located around the corner in Erlerstraße in which Thomas Wiederin proved to be a builder with a high standard of quality. The existing shop was adapted by the architects using selected materials and colors and employs natural and artificial light that allows the books to take center stage.

© Aleksander Dyja
33

Tiroler Sparkasse (Tyrol Savings and Loan, customer area)

Sparkassenplatz 1-3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Johannes Wiesflecker (1998-1999) Builder-owner: Tiroler Sparkasse Open to the public: Mo-Thu 7:45 a.m.-4 p.m., Fri 7:45 a.m.-3 p.m., i.e. during regular banking hours.

The Tyrol Savings and Loan headquarters in Innsbruck takes up several buildings on Erlerstraße and Sparkassenplatz. In 1994, the restructuring of the customer area, with a new entrance from the square rather than from Erlerstraße, marked the beginning of a complete re-launch of the bank’s headquarters and the square. Generally, what once had been a traditional – and somewhat stuffy - bank hall, emanating solidity and security, now is becoming an ultra-modern high-tech service zone; Wiesflecker’s customer area here was one of the first, establishing "banking by dialogue” as a ground rule, and spreading "service isles” throughout the customer area.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
34

Office building Sparkassenplatz 5

Sparkassenplatz 5, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Johannes Wiesflecker (2004-2005) Builder-owner: Tiroler Sparkasse Open to the public: Partly; you may visit "wohn2Center” on the ground floor.

This is another one of the office buildings designed by Johannes Wiesflecker to make up the new Sparkasse headquarters along Sparkassenplatz. The adjacent, older, building became part, in a way, of the square’s re-design: In cooperation with the landscape architect Rainer Schmidt, the building’s front was turned into a "green wall”.

© Markus Bstieler
35

La Cantina

Sparkassenplatz 2, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Giner + Wucherer (2011) Builder-owner: Werner Kleon, Mainardo Tomiselli Open to the public: Mon. to Sat. during opening hours TIP: Caffè, aperitivo and a small selection of dishes – an Italian awareness of life in Innsbruck

After the redesign of the south building on Sparkassenplatz and the completion of the Tyrol Department Store, the niche in the southwest corner of the square became an attractive, inner city interstice. The Italian espresso and wine bar set up in this plaza niche is operated by two architects, but was designed by colleagues who created the atmosphere appropriate to the gastronomic concept with the help of purposefully chosen interventions and materials.

© Markus Bstieler
36

DSZ (Service Centre) Sparkassenplatz 2

Sparkassenplatz 2, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Johannes Wiesflecker (2008-2009) Builder-owner: SLVG Open to the public: partially (Shops and caterers on the ground floor) Rainer Köberl designed two of the shops –the Dinkhauser Wrappings and Parcel Boutique and the Mölk Jewellers Shop.

The redevelopment and extra storey added to the office and business premises on the south side of the Sparkassenplatz form the completion of several years of redevelopment work carried out on the Tyrolean bank building enclosing this central Innsbrucker Square. With the objective of the reconstruction work and addition of a storey being the uniting as a homogeneous but not uniform new building, both on the inside and outside, various "room-identities” were placed on top of each other.

© Markus Bstieler
37

Buchhandlung Haymon (bookstore)

Sparkassenplatz 4, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2004) Builder-owner: Markus Hatzer, Thomas Wiederin Open to the public: Mo-Fri 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat 9:30 a.h.-5 p.m. TIP: In the evenings, often authors read from their books or present new works.

The bookstore on Sparkassenplatz, by Rainer Köberl, is a "black box” for books. Through two big store windows one can look into the store. Before and behind the windows there is a lot of space for books to be presented. The floor, the walls, the ceiling and the furniture – everything is black, so everybody’s attention will be focussed on the true stars of the production: the books.

© Lukas Schaller
38

BTV Stadtforum

Erlerstraße 10, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Heinz Tesar, obermoser arch-omo (2004-2006) Builder-owner: BTV Open to the public: during regular banking hours, Mon-Fri, 7:45 a.m.–4 p.m. TIP: FO.KU.S – City forum photo art: expositions of contemporary art and photography

The BTV City Forum, right in the centre of the city core, is the bank’s new company headquarter, containing offices, an ample customers’ centre, an event hall and rooms for contemporary art and photography expositions. The sculptural building complex fits in well with the pre-existing Gruenderzeit block structure, the corner being marked by a striking tower. The core of the building is the grand soaring hall.

© N. Schletterer, © BTV
39

Sitzwohl Restaurant | Bar

Stadtforum, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Irmgard Frank (2007) Builder-owner: BTV Open to the public: yes The terrace in front was designed by Hanno Vogl-Fernheim (2008).

When the new BTV city forum was built, the adjacent school, listed as a protected monument, was bought by the bank, to become part of the headquarters. The ground floor and the first floor were then turned into a restaurant and bar. Very subtle interventions opened the front so as to create opportunities for communication between the urban space and the interior. The materials used, the light design and the colours create a very specific atmosphere.

© Pez Hejduk
40

Conversion and New Construction of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce

Wilhelm-Greil-Straße 7, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Hanno Vogl-Fernheim (2010-2014) Builder-owner: WKO Tirol Open to the public: Partially (arcade)

The Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce acquired a town house on Wilhelm-Greil-Straße to expand the existing premises on Meinhardstraße, which was demolished and replaced by a new building. The new main entrance is located in the main house, which is enveloped by a laser-cut aluminum façade, while a two-story wing leads to the adapted structure. The centerpiece is the publicly accessible arcade, which, as an extension of Gilmstraße, offers a new pedestrian connection.

© David Schreyer
41

Dunlin Bar (former Bar Erlkönig)

Meranerstraße 6, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: ATP sphere (2012-2013) Open to the public: yes Following a change in ownership, there has been some refurbishment.

By means of minimal adaptation, an empty shop was transformed into a bar that functions as a classic café-bar during the day and transforms into an exclusive nightclub in the evenings. The existing structure came alive again through targeted interventions; the applied colors, fabrics, surfaces and a sophisticated lighting concept serve to generate the desired flair.

© Olaf Becker
42

Hypo Tirol Bank – Headquarters

Meranerstraße 8, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Schlögl & Süß Architekten (2006-2008) Builder-owner: Hypo Rent Open to the public: during regular banking hours In the bank building’s yard, the Landhaus 1 by Schlögl & Süß architects and Johann Obermoser was extended with the construction of an administration building and a festival hall

With the Hypo Tyrol Bank Headquarters on the Boznerplatz, a further regional bank has set new architectural trends in the town centre. The transparent building with its vertical slat covering matches the height of the surrounding buildings. With a slight bend at the corner it follows the course of the road and, towards the top of the building it develops into a top floor full of character with a glazed conference room.

© Markus Bstieler
43

Isser Optik (optician’s shop)

Meinhardstraße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Schlögl & Süß Architekten (2004) Builder-owner: Familie Isser Open to the public: during regular business hours.

Amidst architecturally heterogeneous buildings, the Isser optician’s shop creates a space for the eyes to rest. Almost unimpaired, passers-by can look into the show and sales area and concentrate on the goods presented there, since the purist design refrains from distracting their attention.

© Markus Bstieler
44

Headline

Bruneckerstraße 1-3, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Henke Schreieck Architekten (2011-2012) Builder-owner: Bruneckerstraße Ost GmbH, PEMA Immobilien GmbH Open to the public: partially TIP: Enjoy the 360° panorama on the publicly accessible viewing terrace.

The centerpiece of the multifunctional building complex planned by henke und schreieck Architekten for PEMA Holding is a 49-meter tower with a design hotel, restaurant and publically accessible scenic terrace. Attached to this tower, which characterizes the cityscape, is a five-story, slightly pitched structure that provides tenants with well-lit spaces by means of generous courtyards and atria.

© henke und schreieck Architekten
45

Hauptbahnhof Innsbruck (Central Station)

Südtiroler Platz 2, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Riegler Riewe Architekten (2001-2004) Builder-owner: ÖBB Open to the public: yes The two giant frescoes by Max Weiler (1954/55) have been transferred from the old station hall to the new building.

A long-stretching red cover encloses the Innsbruck Central Station; its main level had been lowered down to be directly accessible from the underground parking lot. The spacious grand hall with a gallery houses the railway’s customer area, shops, cafés and restaurants. The perforated concrete cover engulfs all the building’s functions and allows quick and furtive, filtered, as it were, glances from the platforms into the city.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
46

Südtiroler Platz (Südtirol Square)

Südtiroler Platz, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Riegler Riewe Architekten (2004) Builder-owner: ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, Stadt Innsbruck

At the same time the Central Station was re-built, the station square was re-designed. Separate lanes for car traffic and public transport, and an underground parking lot directly accessible from the station hall make sure that different modes of transport do not interfere with one another. The asphalt’s artificial red color nicely relates to the station building.

© Nikolaus Schletterer
47

MPREIS Hauptbahnhof (food store)

Südtirolerplatz 3-5, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl, Michael Steinlechner (2003-2004) Builder-owner: MPREIS Open to the public: daily (including Sunday) from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Accessibility: Entrance from the Station’s lower main level.

The individual stores of the MPreis food chain, which was the first to use high quality architecture to express its corporate identity, are designed by ever varying architects to precisely fit into or react to a specific context. This one, situated on the lower level of the Central Station, without daylight, is a "glittering cave”. Black glass panels form the ceiling and mirror the goods staged on brightly lit shelves and the customers, thus creating a theatre of goods that refuses to be imprisoned by well-defined limits of space.

© Lukas Schaller
48

Hotel Ibis and Central Bus Station

Sterzingerstraße 1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Manzl Ritsch Sandner (2004-2005) Builder-owner: Raiffeisen Evolution The Station and the Hotel are sort of connected by the Federal Railway’s network control centre, the "Innsbruck Office Terminal”, designed jointly by Rieger & Riewe and Manzl, Ritsch, Sandner.

The central bus station shapes the southern fringe of the station square. The hotel there was conceived as the counterpart, not only as far as dimensions were concerned, to the station hall. While the station hall is a cube of light below street level, the hotel is a black monolith above street level and, at the same time, keeps waiting bus passengers in the spacious area underneath safe from any bad weather.

© Markus Bstieler
49

MPREIS Salurnerstraße

Salurnerstraße 1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Rainer Köberl (2008) Builder-owner: MPREIS Open to the public: Mo-Fri 7 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sat 7 a.m.-5 p.m. TIP: Café Baguette with "Thai to go”

Across the street from the central station and bus station, an old MPreis branch was expanded and re-shaped to become an appropriately urbane corner of this busy square, with a café and restaurant at street level. The existing building structure, reduced to its barest essentials by all kinds of miracles of stress analysis, is the spectacular eye-catcher in an otherwise rather heterogeneous mass of buildings, together with the green wavy ceiling.

© Lukas Schaller
50

PEMA 3

Südbahnstraße1, 6020 Innsbruck, A
Architecture: Alois Zierl, Michael Heinlein (2020-2022) Builder-owner: PEMA Immobilien GmbH Open to the public: partially TIP: Open-access sky bar on the top floor.

With the P3, PEMA Holding is building its third tower in Innsbruck, directly opposite the Adambräu. The architects realised a slender building consisting of a four-storey base and a 10-storey structure, which forms a clear end to the station area. Hotel "Motel One" is located in the tower, and the "reiter design" showroom and office spaces are located in the base.

© Christian Flatscher