Campus Kuchl of the Salzburg University, Kuchl (AT)
New building,
Building in existing structures,
Timber construction
Client: Weco FH Holztechnikum
Location: A-5431 Kuchl, Markt 136
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller
Design: Helmut Dietrich
Competition: 2007, 1. prize
Construction period: 2008 – 2009
Area: 1,510 m²
Programme: Classrooms, drawing and multi-purpose hall for 200 people, seminar rooms, library and workshops for 400 students - passive house
Photos: Bruno Klomfar
Team
Bernhard Breuer (Project management), Björn Diehl, Andreas Gimpl, Felix Kruck, Peter Nußbaumer
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics timber: Pock, Klagenfurt
Statics concrete: Gaderer, Salzburg
Building services: Burggraf, Salzburg
Building physics: Graml, Wals
Electrics: Müller Uri, Enzersberg
Awards
- Holzbaupreis Salzburg, Award
- Architekturpreis Salzburg, Award
Wood, design and sustainability
With a compact, highly insulated and airtight building envelope with triple glazing, a ventilation system with heat recovery and the passive use of solar energy, Austria's first university building in passive house construction was built on the Kuchl campus.
The three-storey timber frame construction is braced by the solid staircase core and the closed front wall made of cross-laminated timber. In the basement, the existing building was extended in a solid exposed concrete construction and houses the workshops and a work yard with a covered outdoor area. For fire safety reasons, the escape staircase was also constructed in reinforced concrete.
A timber construction inside and out
The three floors above ground were combined in a frame-shaped structure that shades the seminar rooms to the south with untreated silver fir slats but opens up views of the surrounding mountains to the east and west.
The building clearly declares itself as a timber construction both inside and out. The Salzburg University of Applied Sciences is thus doing justice to the content of the "Wood, Design and Sustainability" academic programme and using the positive experiences of 400 students as multipliers.
On the upper floors, a wide, floor-to-ceiling glazed corridor provides access to the seminar rooms and the library. The load-bearing timber construction is, wherever necessary, clad with oiled birch plywood.
To the east and west, the seminar rooms offer views of the surrounding mountains.
Passerelle connects old and new buildings
To the north, the campus site borders the grounds of the Kuchl Wood Technology Centre, to the south the student hall of residence. The central corridors of the existing building from 1995 lead into the new, glazed passerelle, which connects the old and new buildings. The foyer on the ground floor leads to the drawing room, which is lit from both sides and can accommodate 200 people for events.
