Mötz Fire Station and Community Building brings together key public and community functions under one roof: a four-bay fire station, a public library, the district archive, club rooms, and a multi-purpose hall with seating for 100 people. Based on the winning entry of an architectural competition (2023), the design is distinguished by its seamless integration into the village fabric, a clearly defined entrance sequence, and a carefully articulated façade.
The building is conceived as a compact, interlocking system of uses, where different functions overlap spatially while remaining legible as a coherent whole. At its core is the two-storey fire station hall, topped by the multi-purpose hall beneath the pitched roof. Opposite, a three-storey foyer serves as the shared circulation, gathering, and social space, with visual connections spanning all levels. A communal kitchen adjacent to the event hall acts as an informal meeting point for the building's various user groups.
The building is constructed using a hybrid structural system. The ground floor and functionally demanding areas are built in reinforced concrete with exposed concrete finishes of varying quality, while the upper floors are executed in solid timber construction using cross-laminated timber (CLT) walls made from silver fir. The restrained palette of materials and colours—exposed concrete, silver fir, ash industrial parquet flooring, and accents of broom yellow—creates a calm, durable atmosphere with a distinctly civic character.
The building achieved klimaaktiv Gold certification, Austria's highest rating for sustainable buildings. The certification recognizes excellence in energy efficiency, low environmental impact, resource conservation, and indoor comfort, reflecting the project's ambition to create a durable and resource-conscious public building.
All photographs © Günter Richrad Wett