architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

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.

In place of the dilapidated Mentlvilla, used by Caritas as an emergency shelter for people with substance abuse issues, Jörg Streli was able to construct an initial building block on the future edge of the city from the Main Railway Station to the Südring. Making a conscious reference to Lois Welzenbacher’s Adambräu, he designed a narrow, six-story tower that frees up the street space and the forecourt of the neighboring Carmelite Church.

The Wiltener Platzl, which had previously deteriorated into a pure traffic (rest) area, was transformed with few interventions into a lively and attractive neighborhood square. A uniform ground level and a continuous surface made of bright granite lets the square appear spacious. A bench with a drinking fountain, two trees and granite block seating possibilities structure the square space and invite people to linger without having to consume anything.

For a long time, a gap stood on Wiltener Platzl, a small square in the immediate vicinity of the listed Liebenegg Manor. This empty site was convincingly closed with an angular structure marked by two high points. Public and semi-public uses are located on the ground floor, while small, handicapped-accessible apartments for senior citizens can be found on the upper floors.

A supermarket divided into several structures was converted and extended with a glass pavilion. The challenge consisted in molding the heterogeneous existing structure and the extension into a new entity, which was achieved primarily through continuous flooring featuring ornamental tiles. The tendril pattern partly turns up again on the walls and ceilings, lending the market its very unique atmosphere.

The residential complex is an example of how high-quality, inner-city densification can arise in the inner courtyards, which are enclosed by a Gründerzeit block perimeter development. The 120 or so apartments are spread over two floors that open up to the sunken inner courtyard and a number of separate structures with green roofs and façades.

Erecting a residential building along the Südring near the Grassmayrkreuzung presents a difficult challenge. Raimund Rainer reacts to this starting situation with several structures of varying heights that run along the street. Closing the existing block perimeter development off on three sides, they function as a soundproof wall in the south. An additional, free-standing structure, which the majority of the apartment living rooms are oriented towards, was placed in the quiet inner courtyard.

In the course of the organisational transformation of the former "Pädak" into a university of teacher education, the existing building, which was constructed in the 1970s, was renovated and extended. ARSP Architekten added two more volumes to the existing ones and created clearly structured areas for the individual units of use.

Am Südrand von Innsbruck befindet sich das Betriebsgelände der Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe mit der Hauptremise für Busse und Straßenbahnen. Das neue, im Osten weit über die Gleise auskragende Verwaltungsgebäude ist in enger Zusammenarbeit zwischen Bauherren und Architekt entstanden. Die vorgehängte Fassade aus unterschiedlich gelochten Cortenstahlplatten und die Werkstattatmosphäre im Innenraum tragen zu einer dezidiert industriellen Anmutung bei, mit der die Funktion der Verkehrsbetriebe zum Ausdruck gebracht werden soll.

In order to create a contemporary rehearsal venue for the Wilten Boys' Choir, the idea of building on top of the petrol station on the grounds of the monastery of Wilten was born. A largely closed structure overhangs the fuel station on the street side and appears self-confident with its continuous outer skin of natural copper sheeting. The rehearsal room upstairs is illuminated and ventilated via an atrium, and a small pub is integrated into the petrol station downstairs.

The new Bergisel ski jump is a landmark that is visible from most every part of town. The various functional elements, while still perfectly and precisely serving their purpose as mere instruments of sports competition, were moulded into an elegantly sculptural and expressively dynamic construction symbolising the ski jumper’s movement.

A new museum was constructed in Bergisel with the "Riesenrundgemälde” being its main attraction. The architects solved the complex task at the location of both historical and landscape importance, with a flat solitary and "reserved design” building situated on the edge of the slope leading to the Sillschlucht. However, when travelling towards the main traffic routes, the round painting takes on the appearance of a sculpture with it being presented in a hollow.

The "village” of Igls, at the foothills of the Patscherkofel, is one of the inhabitants’ favorite leisure areas, and shortly will be declared air health resort. Right in the center of the Kurpark there is the congress centre run (as well as its much bigger "cousin” in Innsbruck) by the Innsbruck Congress and Fair Corporation. With the concept of a garden pavilion in mind, the two architects, rather than landing a solid building smack in the middle of the park, merely designed a transparent energy-saving jacket under a rounded overlapping roof. Inside your will find whatever is necessary for smaller assemblies or seminars, plus a public café where you can also sit outside.

While the Nordkettenbahn cable railway (architecture: Franz Baumann), built around the same time, was sensitively adapted for a new cable car technology, this apparently proved not to be economically justifiable for the Patscherkofelbahn (architecture: Hans Fessler), which opened in 1928. A three-station monocable gondola lift, characterized by a very strict and purist approach focusing on function, arose in place of the old aerial tramway.

The MPREIS store on the outskirts of Patsch was realised by Volker Miklautz according to the concept of a cube stuck in the ground, which is only perceived as a line in the landscape from the adjacent field. The interior is characterised by a column-free beam roof, while organically shaped slats and a cloud of light create a very special atmosphere in the café-bistro area.

The redesign of the village center in Patsch arose out of a community development process with an associated architecture competition. On the northern edge of the property, a building for the community office, based in terms of its dimensions and materiality on the existing development, and a music pavilion on the southern edge, were erected. Together with the former parish hall, which has been transformed into a clubhouse, and the new village square, the residents gained a lively meeting place.

The supermarket, which is located in the immediate proximity of the municipal office and the social centre, was designed by the architects as a simple hall with a gable roof. The building thus fits as naturally as a farm or a barn into the structure of the buildings along the village road.

In the centre of Natters, a health and social centre was built for the population of the surrounding villages with a residential home, a daytime care facility, a medical practice and a separate house for "assisted living" that is connected by a covered bridge. By dividing the building into two parts, it was possible to realise volumes that were compatible with the locality and to create outdoor spaces with different qualities.

The winning concept for the rehearsal, practicing and performance square for the village and its club, which was planned under the key note "give the festival a structure”, was selected from the architectural contest for the village’s regeneration. The main part is a passe-partout type roofed gallery which contains the copper panelled club house and festival-square with stage and, at the same time is a landscape viewing platform.

The company headquarters of the ASI Alpine School Innsbruck, located in the middle of a forest above Natters, was complemented by Snøhetta Studio Innsbruck with a new office building that reflects the company's philosophy and in particular the theme of "symbiosis between nature and man". The exterior appearance is defined by the wooden façade and a green climbing frame; inside, an open officescape was developed together with the employees.

As part of the newly designed entrance area of the lake Natters camping area, the architects created a long and narrow building for the necessary infrastructure functions that sets up to now unheard of quality standards in the world of tents, caravans and mobile homes. Despite its rather large volume, the two-storey building unpretentiously sits on the lakeshore, sort of becoming part of the landscape. There, you find everything you need for a camping holiday, plus a lot of small highlights and brilliant new ideas.

A solitary cube with an intriguingly structured façade of concrete, glass and larch wood – this is the annex of the Amras elementary school. Very appropriately adapting to the scale of the usually smaller, village-like buildings of a city quarter that had actually once been a small farming village, it does not add to but rather detract from, as it were, the mass of the old school building, and still manages to define e new central square for Amras.