Pfauengarten Development Graz

The “Pavoreal” project for the Pfauengarten in Graz attempts to answer the question about how best to insert new volumes in the sensitive mesh of the old town in a manner that is both principled and exemplary. Over the existing level, which lies below the top of the historical fortified wall, a new plateau is constructed. This allows an unobstructed view into and across the Stadtpark in a way previously not possible. The elements of the mixed use brief consisting of condominiums, offices, shops, a café and a hotel are divided among three free-standing buildings. This strategy allows the total building volume to be sensitively articulated and embedded in the historic urban setting of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Graz. The project is perceived as an urban composition of three individual buildings, each of which takes up different urban lines of reference and responds in different ways to its particular urban situation. In order to integrate the building in the characteristic red tiled roofscape the facades and roofs are covered with an envelope of perforated metal, with different mesh sizes, whose colour harmonises with that of the historic roofs and facades.