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In addition to traditional office and meeting rooms, the aspect of emphasizing opportunities for exchange and communication was highlighted in the competition announcement. The organizational units of the business school were to have the opportunity to network and collaborate with one another. Thus, a light-filled atrium with a diverse range of meeting spaces was the centerpiece of the design from the very beginning. Science and research thrive on innovation, which in turn is driven by communication. The atrium offers spaces for encounters with different qualities of stay and invites people to exchange ideas and spontaneously connect.
The House of Schools sets a striking accent in the development of the JKU campus in Linz. As the first part of an ensemble that can be realized in three construction phases, the building clearly structures the campus in the south and creates an attractive courtyard situation in the ensemble with HOS2 and 3 in the north. It adopts the existing access axis and continues it, creating orientation and a clear structure. The compact arrangement of the buildings also provides space for future extensions to the west.
The HOS - House of Schools - is intended as a bright, inviting building to enhance the extension of the JKU campus. White-coated metal was chosen for the façade cladding. This choice of material impresses with its friendly, modern appearance. The coating reliably protects the metal from environmental influences such as moisture or UV radiation. In addition, the light-coloured metal façade has a heat-repellent effect and thus supports the passive cooling of the building - an important contribution to thermal comfort inside.
A key aspect of our planning process is emotional sustainability and maximizing the useful life of a building. In the House of Schools, this was achieved through room heights of 3.15m and a reinforced concrete skeleton construction with an axial grid of 10x10m, which enables long-term flexibility of use. In addition, attention was paid to resource-saving use of materials when selecting the structural principle. The building's energy and building services concept was based on the use of renewable energies such as photovoltaics and geothermal energy. Intelligent building technology, automated sun protection, heat pumps with geothermal energy, concrete core activation and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery enable the building to be operated sustainably.
The House of Schools sets a striking accent in the development of the JKU campus in Linz. As the first part of the future ensemble, the building clearly structures the campus in the south and creates an inviting courtyard in the north. It continues the existing development axis and provides space for future extensions to the west. The House of Schools 1 is a five-storey building that houses offices, meeting and seminar rooms. The supporting structure is based on a reinforced concrete skeleton, which allows flexible use of space thanks to a column grid of 10x10m. This creates space for rooms of various sizes. A central atrium connects all floors and serves as the communicative heart of the building. It acts as a connecting hub between different functional areas and connects all floors through the five-storey atrium. The selection of materials considers longevity, simplicity and demonstration and visibility of raw surfaces. The supporting structure, floor and ceiling are not hidden behind cladding elements; glass and metallic surfaces complement this raw character. The color and texture of the walls stand out clearly from the shell, making the individual building elements legible. The façade consists of a post and beam façade as a warm shell and a steel structure in front, embedding various sun protection elements and façade greenery. The two-layered nature of the shell and the light color scheme create a fascinating interplay of light, shadow and depth.
The Vienna-based architecture office querkraft was founded in 1998. Around 100 projects,
competition entries and buildings in Austria and abroad provide ample evidence of the successful work by this team that currently comprises around 45 staff members. The mission statement formulated by querkraft is “giving people space”, which expresses a constant striving for generosity in the field of spatial design and for the kind of freedom that facilitates users’ personal development.
In the area of housing, in particular, querkraft has realised many projects that embody this
philosophy of poetic pragmatism.Office and museum buildings or projects in public space are also a fixed part of the work of querkraft as is shown by, for instance, the Liaunig Museum in Carinthia, which has already been placed under monument protection. Respect, friendliness and joy in the work are the credo of Jakob Dunkl, Gerd Erhartt, Peter Sapp and their team.
