The internal structure of the centrally located mill consists of a prefabricated timber construction dating back to 1880. These structures as well as the façade are listed as protected buildings. There are no free areas and there is no view into or onto the town; conventional use for housing purposes was therefore out of question. So loft-like flats were created for a young and urban clientele. The flats are grouped on four storeys around a large inner courtyard. The building receives light through glazed gables in the roof and the largely opened northern wall of the building. Access to the flats is via footbridges running along amidst the timber beams. Also inside the flats, the ‘new’ materials concrete and steel meet with the consistently dominating linear timber construction. The success of the unusual project can be seen in the great demand. Within but a few days, 140 interested parties applied for the 22 flats and, then as now, every single one of the flats could be let several times over.
awarded with the ‘Client’s Award 2000’ by the Austrian Architects Association
awarded with the ‘Geramb Rose’ 2000
Client: Dkfm. Albin Sorger
Collaborators: Ida Pirstinger, Therese Janeschitz-Kriegl
Photographs: Paul Ott