Town Town by COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

Coop Himmelb(l)au are certainly not known for simple, restrained, efficient buildings. Quite the opposite is true – weird, over-sized, aggressive ...

From time to time, ideas need time to mature – sometimes the awareness of a concept is just not there yet, or its realization is simply impossible from a technical point of view, or the Principal is missing along with a much needed financial boost. And sometimes all these things come together, as with the design of the Town Town by Coop Himmelb(l)au for the Erdberg Office Tower in Vienna.

Nothing is the Way it seems

Coop Himmelb(l)au are certainly not known for simple, restrained, efficient buildings. Quite the opposite is true – weird, over-sized, with an aggressive attitude the buildings stare at you. And now this: Town Town. Looks rather like something from a science fiction movie, you are nearly tempted to locate those visualizations in some Japanese animated movie.
At second glance, however, a new move is revealed beneath the difficult façade. Light, shape and material are not that important here, the idea and the logic of such a design process are what the focus is on.

Typo-Mix

Located in a development area , from an urban planning related point of view, in the Eastern part of Vienna, the highrise combines the typology of the highrise disk and the cylindric tower with a clever arrangement of the opening to a building, providing it with an exceptional area efficiency. Good for investors. But what will make them even happier is the realization of the integrated energy-active building system, which is supposed to offer outstanding performance in terms of sustainability. The simulations of the metallic shell’s crystalline shape have shown how this works, developed from dynamic wind forces and optimized from a climatic, acoustic and functional point of view. And since the tower stands in the entry lane of Vienna airport, the three-dimensional folding of the shell additionally features a maximum of radar absorption from all sides.

Power Plant inside

The real attraction, however, is the introduction of the concept of the highrise with an energy-efficient, environment-friendly and intelligent design, tried and tested along with innovative low energy systems, environment control system and newly developed energy generation systems and improving usage comfort. In simple terms: The building produces its own electric energy. On the one hand, by using a large turbine placed inside a bolt-shaped unit on top of the building, arranged perfectly to go with the building’s shape and the direction the wind comes from most in the area. On the other hand, the façade panels have a photo-voltaic coating. According to estimations, the façade and the turbine together generate more energy than the building needs. Any surplus is sold back to the electricity provider. This means the profit threshold will be reached a lot sooner than expected. This can also be seen in the eco-balance with expected CO2-savings of all in all 1,100,000 kg.

Constructor: Immobiliendevelopment Wiener Stadtwerke BMG, STC Swiss Town Consult
Architect: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Construction time: 2000, 2010 – x
Size: GFA: 43,750 square meters