The extension of the district office not far from the town hall, which was built in the early 18th century, responds to the existing, historically shaped urban space with its figure of two interlocking cubes. Its structuring by projections and recesses and its sculptural staggering of heights connect the building as a matter of course with its immediate neighbourhood and the winding, typical local alleys, which repeatedly widen into small squares.
In this way, the existing grain size and its building masses become the decisive reference for the new building. The façades, designed in exposed concrete with sandstone (and limestone quarries), are also based on the surrounding sandstone buildings. The base and reveals of the district office were scratched vertically using stonemasonry technology and thus create - in the style of the historic neighbours - a clear differentiation of façade, reveal and plinth.
Seen from the town hall square in particular, the extension does not create massive, contiguous bodies, but rather the balanced structure and scale contribute to the fact that the new building can be read as a familiar urban building block.
The meeting room on the ground floor, which is located directly at the entrance, opens significantly to the outside with its generously glazed façade and can be used both internally and externally. The divisible foyer of the new building offers the possibility of separating the event area and using it completely independently. Inside, the extension also avoids large continuous corridors, rather the staggered rooms in the building pick up on the characteristic projections and recesses of the urban space. A central circulation core directly adjacent to the foyer, around which the main rooms are rounded, leads visitors to the upper floors and, in combination with the cleverly positioned side rooms, ensures that there are no rear sides and that the new building with all its facades can confidently present itself to the city - both to Mühlgasse and Eisenstädter Platz as well as to the library and the existing district office.
As an elegant and simply designed house, the extension fits into the image of the city, interweaves with the diversity of the existing structures and at the same time reveals itself as a decidedly contemporary building with its modern architectural language and the floor-to-ceiling windows set in deep reveals.
Source: Steimle Architekten
Photos: Brigida González
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