Salzburg University of Applied Sciences | Dietrich I Untertrifaller

The extension of the Kuchl campus is a model for the 400 students who are educated there in forest products technology and timber construction. It is Austria’s first university building in passive house construction. Wood, as the academic focus at the Kuchl Campus, is omnipresent: The structural components remain largely visible or are clad with oiled birch plywood like the ceilings and dividing walls. On the ground floor, the foyer leads to the lecture room – also doubling as an event space for up to 200 people – that extends along the entire building height. On the two top floors, the seminar rooms and the library can be accessed via a wide corridor with floor-to-ceiling glazing. Skylights and vertical glazing on the corridor side allow natural light to filter in and create inviting classrooms. On the façade, the interplay between the closed wooden front on the one hand and on the other the continuous row of windows and the ribbon glazing with its brown enamel as well as shading afforded by silver fir slats, helps to structure the diffident building in an intriguing manner.