Supernova | INNOCAD architecture

This mixed-use building in Graz for the real estate firm Supernova unites autonomous spaces and community into a holistic identity. On five levels, the compact building volume, structured by four characteristic cutouts and its vertical lamellae facade, merges the spheres of retail, office, and leisure. Located in Graz at the city’s southern gate, the 5200-square-meter building also functions as the headquarters for the client Supernova, a private real estate company.

A Spar grocery store is located on the ground floor, a fitness center on the three upper floors, and offices for the client on the top floor. A naturally ventilated underground car park with 27 parking spaces, two storage rooms, and the technical rooms are planned for the basement.

The planned construction of Supernova is located on Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße in an area surrounded by parking lots. Essentially, the structural environment is oriented along the street alignment and parallel to it along a high zoning line. All motorized traffic is connected via the light-controlled intersection in the south. The property is accessible to the public via the pedestrian and cycle path as well as the tram stop for line 4.

This plot in a heterogeneous district with a mixture of commercial and residential structures demanded a sophisticated but minimalist architectural design contrasting with the neighboring functional buildings, yet one that subtly merges with its surroundings. The sculpture-like building structure allows more insight through the large glass facade as one drives by, due to its mirror-like characteristics. While reflecting sunlight as well as any lighting from its surroundings, the reproduction and luminosity change throughout the day as the light intensity decreases.

The innovative bespoke element of the lamella serves as a rigid structural sun protection with the advantage of low maintenance and low relevance for wind loads. The cantilevering lamellae are calculated to shade the glass facade to a high percentage during the day. The windows with their high reflective level offer improved solar protection compared to conventional windows. The conventional ribbon window facade is more economical and results in combination with the mirrored opaque parapet in a qualitative aesthetic.

Following the concept of longevity, the building’s structure is built with a flexible concept enabling different usages and functions throughout the building’s lifespan. Thus, the ceilings are conceived without joints to ensure adaptability of the floor layout. The steel staircase connecting the three floors of the gym is designed to be easily dismantled in case the three floors need to be separated due to a change of usage.

The building’s energy demand for heating and cooling is covered by renewable energy sources, such as solar panels on the roof, district heating, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

The central core of the recently finished mixed-use building Supernova in Graz includes an outdoor garden placed in the middle of the top floor’s office, allowing constant natural light to access the deep building volume, reducing the amount of efficient LED lighting.

This central outdoor garden concept was built, meeting the spatial, social, and well-being criteria, with an aim to create a calming, transparent, light-flooded, and nature-enclosed workplace by harmonizing the physical, virtual, and social aspects of work. It serves as the main architectural biophilic element, offering employees an open-air working area protected through a mobile canopy, merging indoor and outdoor seamlessly – divided only through large, customized windows.

Each workplace organized around the open atrium, which could also be roofed, offers the employees a hybrid between inside and outside – with a greenhouse-like area and plantation that allows the access of natural light and acts as a spatial link between layers. Around this outdoor garden, the building’s central functions are arranged, followed by collaborative zones, offering open communication and work areas. The open workspace is located around the outdoor garden, structured with glass enclaves, which zone the open office place and offer people a versatile space to use as a focus, meeting, and social area. A variety of single, transparent glass cubes installed in the middle of the indoor office area enable and enhance communication, interaction, as well as simultaneously create openness and wideness – but still physically zone the open office situation.