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In addition to traditional office and meeting rooms, the competition brief already emphasized the aspect of new ways of working, in the sense of the possibility of exchange and communication. The organizational units of the business school were to have the opportunity to network and cooperate with each other.
A light-flooded atrium with a diverse range of meeting places was therefore at the heart of the design from the outset. Science and research thrive on innovation, which in turn is supported by communication. The atrium offers meeting places with different qualities and invites people to exchange ideas and spontaneously come into contact with each other.
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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.
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.
As the first part of the future ensemble, the HOuse of Schools clearly structures the JKU campus in the south and creates an inviting courtyard in the north. It continues the existing development axis and creates orientation and a clear structure. The compact arrangement of the buildings provides space for future extensions to the west. The House of Schools 1 is a five-storey building that houses offices as well as 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 structure creates space for rooms of various sizes - from individual offices to seminar rooms. A central atrium connects all floors and serves as the communicative heart of the building inviting people to meet and it offers space for formal and informal encounters. 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 two layers: a post and beam façade as a warm shell and a steel structure in front, embedding various sun protection elements and façade greenery.
During the entire planning process, there was always a lively exchange between the client, users and the planning team. For example, the common room on the 4th floor was created at the users' request. This is an almost 70m2 common room with a kitchenette, lounge area and balcony, which is available to all employees in the building and was added during the preliminary design planning.
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. querkraft have received numerous
sustainability awards for the first car-free IKEA in Vienna and the Austrian pavilion for the world Expo in Dubai. Respect, friendliness and joy in the work are the credo of Jakob Dunkl, Gerd Erhartt, Peter Sapp and their team.
