Inside Out, Vienna (AT)
New building,
Subsidised housing ,
Neighbourhood Development
Nordwestbahnhof – Phase A.1 (AT)
Two-stage dialogue-oriented developer competition
Client: ÖBB-Infrastruktur Aktiengesellschaft
Location: A-1220 Wien, Nordwestbahnhof
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller
Competition: 2024, 1. prize
Construction: 2026 – 2030
Area: 10,953 m²
Programme: Foyer, exhibition room
Visualisation: Dietrich Untertrifaller
Team Competition
Julian Imbery, Barbora Köver Tothova, Johanna Lentzkow, Maria Megina, Sofia Ramos Marin
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics: ghp gmeiner haferl & Partner, Vienna
Building physics, fire protection, Brandschutz: B-Lab, Vienna
Building services, Energieeffizienz: Team gmi, Vienna
Social sustainablility Nachhaltigkeit: art:phalanx, Vienna
Landscape: YEWO Landscapes, Vienna
Five houses, five courtyards
With an area of 44 hectares, the former Nordwestbahnhof is the last large inner-city development area in Vienna. This district is to become a climate-friendly and socially mixed residential and working neighbourhood. The aim of the phase 1 developer competition organised by wohnfonds_wien is to build high-quality, subsidised housing based on the 4-pillar model: architecture, social sustainability, economy and ecology.
The jury awarded first prize to our design for building site NW04-6: "This entry addresses the core concerns of the circular economy and climate protection in a truly convincing way. The entry is also convincing in terms of its urban planning and architectural qualities with a cleverly thought-out floor plan and development concept."
Frugal with the private, generous with the shared
As the name suggests, our concept thinks from the inside out. The building shifts the boundaries from the private to the shared, is visible with its wooden skeleton, allows its interior spaces to flow into the outdoor areas and channels cool air from the outside to the inside.
As an acute-angled triangle along the property boundaries, our residential structure forms a protected neighbourhood park on the inside. The open courtyard cut into the street side serves as a forecourt for the school on the ground floor. Numerous projections and recesses structure the building and give the façades an individual profile.
Five houses develop above the base, grouping their uses into clearly arranged neighbourhoods. An open pergola with five shady, green and cool courtyards – the communal terraces – connects the houses. This heavily greened outdoor space provides fresh, cool air and protection from the heat.
Supported by a uniform grid of columns, each of the five houses forms its own identity: sometimes notched, sometimes supplemented with loggias in front, sometimes with photovoltaics on the façade, sometimes wrapped around a “green room”, sometimes deep and pinned through, sometimes flat on the façade. Platforms such as multifunctional common rooms, the city loggia or the multi-purpose room help to develop a permanent community.
Common to all flats are shady, wind-protected loggias and the possibility of cross-ventilation. Economical with the private and generous with the shared – this creates affordable living space and strengthens the sense of community on your own doorstep.
