architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

The small community of Forchach gained a new central meeting point, specifically tailored to the needs of its residents. The clear, single-storey gable-roofed structure with a larch wood facade accommodates a multifunctional village hall and a public eatery designed as a traditional "Dorfstube” (village parlor). The redesigned, paved village square extends across the traffic areas and creates a cohesive ensemble, connecting the church, elementary school, municipal office, and village hall.

In the course of the expansion and functional adaptation of the Schwaz District Commission, a former passage courtyard was transformed into an attractive urban space. The upper level of the square was expanded, and the difference in level to the lower level has been overcome by a spacious open staircase with steps for seating. The partial, pavilion-like roofing of the stairs and the front area offers protection and forms the spatial framework for this new meeting place.

The result of a long-term planning process is an ensemble that provides a new focal point for village life. The municipal council, music pavilion, and a single-storey multipurpose building are arranged around a central square, which is spatially defined by a large canopy and designed for flexible use. Generously glazed façades and adaptable structures allow for a wide range of events—from concerts to markets.

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.

The new municipal office and a child-friendly multimedia library are located in two buildings of different heights, staggered one behind the other, which - overcoming the difference in level of about one storey - connect two local areas. The striking ensemble, encased in a metal façade, fits confidently into the existing, traditional village structure.

A new community center with a multipurpose hall, a small inn and village square, which contributes to the revitalization of the village center as a social and communal meeting place, emerged in the rural community of Steinberg am Rofan. Bernardo Bader, who won the competition tendered on the basis of a public participation process, designed a compact saddle roof house in larch wood, which reacts empathetically to the village’s spatial situation.

In the densely developed historical village center of Zirl an old house, earlier used for agricultural purposes, with a small shoemaker’s workshop has stood empty for years. Fügenschuh Hrdlovics Architekten acquired this building located directly next to their residence and studio in 2014 and converted it, among other things, for their own architectural office. What arose is a thoroughly contemporary transformation in material and detailed design that places a harmonious emphasis in the evolved village structure.

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.

MED-EL, the world leading producer of cochlear implant systems, has its headquarters in Innsbruck. The five-story annex building for research and development contains conference rooms, training and measuring labs, clean rooms and offices on more than 13,000 m2. The core theme for the architectonic implementation was, on the one hand, to create an appropriate space offer for the communication culture lived within the company and, on the other hand, to formally express the firm’s innovative technical direction.

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.

"Swarovski Optik”, specialist for long range optics, was founded in Absam in 1946 where since then, the industrial facility has grown continuously. As part of a structural company reorganisation, a concept for the conversion and extension of the ensemble was drawn up together with the architects. The plans were then implemented over a number of stages taking those working for the company into account.

As part of necessary redevelopment measures, the Economic Chamber - Kufstein District Office was restructured and raised in height. The ground floor was completely gutted and opened up to become a vestibule. A second storey was built on top, thus turning the building into a compact – above the ground floor – suspended and combined body.

In close vicinity to the existing town hall, a second, barrier-free administration building was erected for the community. The heterogeneous, rurally structured setting and the steeply rising slope of the Blasiusberg Mountain defined the scale, shape and materiality of the new structure. As if growing out of the slope, a corten-steel roof edges its way over the otherwise very transparently kept building.

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.

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”.

Situated on the grounds of a former industrial area close to the town centre is Johann Obermoser’s "trade park” with a number of, in structure and façade, differing buildings: A long stretched out building parallel to the trunk road with an MPREIS supermarket on the ground floor and offices on the protruding top floor. In addition to these, a square pavilion to the south with the "Vital Centre” and, at the end, very close to the slope the five storey high "Lantech” innovation centre.

For quite a while now, the Binder wood corporation has made architectural quality part of its corporate identity, small wonder, then, that Josef Lackner was asked – among others – to realize several buildings for the company. With the shingles wrapping the striking building, Lackner calls the viewers’ attention to the fact that wood is, after all, what the company is about. Wood is also the main material chosen for the interior, creating an unmistakable special flair.

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.

This singular building, for a very innovative light-planning company, was designed with the interplay of function and surrounding landscape as a starting point. The building lot and the road are at very much differing levels, so Lackner carved the laboratory building into the slope, topped by a cylindrically shaped staff building with an entrance at the medium level. Starting from there, two "office spirals” – every workplace at a different level, but with generous daylight – lead upwards and downwards, covering the height of two floors in either direction.