Industrial and Office Building Thumfarth
Planning: [tp3] architekten
Location: Schlag bei Grünbach, Upper Austria
Year: 2014
Photographer: Kurt Hörbst
Housed in a former building yard the installation company was looking for a new location along S10. The architects, however, managed to convince the owner of the benefits of the existing site. Therefore and with regards to sustainability the new company was integrated into the old structure. Thereby another “box” on the green meadow could be avoided and at the same time the decaying structure be renewed.
In the first construction phase the former hayloft has been removed and replaced by a magazine in which now the sanitary facilities, the social and changing rooms are located.
In the second construction stage the new office was built on the site of the former granary which now is connected with the magazine through a bridge that spans across the yard. After moving the office from the ground floor to the first floor the old office has been transformed into showrooms for stoves and saunas.
On the first floor the offices and working places have been arranged as if behind a "type case". Through the post and bar façade the inner functional spaces can be read as part of the façade and lend the old stock a positive architectural expression.
With the involvement of local firms the entire superstructure (supporting structure, weight-bearing walls, roof structure, connecting bridges and stairways etc.) was built in wood construction that partly has been kept visible. The traditional rural method of construction – wood construction on a massive foundation – has been interpreted in a new way.