The revitalisation and conversion of the listed laboratory faculty building into a Biomedical Engineering Centre is a very interesting challenge. Issues of energy efficiency, protection of historic buildings, functionality, economy in construction and operation have to be combined into an overall concept. The focus thereby is the exposition and the optimal utilisation of the building’s existing structural potential designed by the architect Karl Raimund Lorenz in the mid 1950ies. The façade remains mainly untouched – as required by the authority for protection and conservation of historical monuments. But within the building everything except the main supporting structure and the staircases has been torn down. Every new non-structural component is selected based on its potential for an optimal atmospheric environment (regarding the design, haptic and climatic features). The material selection combined with the preserved building structure turn into an integral design concept.
In collaboration with Ingenos Gobiet GmbH
Client: Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft mbH
Team: Kerstin Wissounig, Eva Hierzer
Team Competition: Monika Liebmann-Zugschwert, Julia Lainer, Daniel Bergmayr
Photographs: David Schreyer