Facade VERBUND headquarters | SOLID architecture

Objective / Current Situation The headquarters of the Verbund AG is a block perimeter development built around a central courtyard in Vienna’s first district. It was erected between 1952 and 1954 to designs by Carl Appel and is bordered on three sides by public streets or squares. In 1982 the plinth zone and the areas of facade that frame the large projecting bay elements on Heidenschuss and Tiefer Graben were remodelled to designs by architect Sepp Stein in the volume oriented towards Freyung. As this facade design had reached the end of its useful life an invited competition was set up for the redesign of these areas. This competition was won by SOLID architecture. Conceptual involvement with the topic of the facade at the Freyung Overlaying a building with traces of different time layers is the conceptual starting point for the new design. It uses design principles from different eras of architectural history to integrate the volume of the building in the historic ensemble on Freyung. Additional filters and levels of meaning were placed in front of the history and characteristics of the post-war building overlaying the facade with a second layer that sits in front of it. By mounting this additional layer the new design which initiates a dialogue between the existing Verbund building and the ensemble on Freyung becomes clearly legible. An apparently ephemeral envelope or shell is created which depending on the weather conditions and the distance of the viewer to the building allows different planes and aspects of the facade to emerge in the foreground. Silver wave-like veil Separating the facade into two layers makes it possible to renovate the existing facade as the internal layer rather easily and without great interventions. A second and facing layer is positioned across the facade like a silver wave-like veil in this way providing a view onto that presented behind. The entire wave-like veil is designed with a unique repetitive facade element which is attached in various different scales. This facade element consists of wave-like and off-set moulded tubes made from stainless steel which have a rectangular cross-section and are held together by means of a frame. The arrangement of the facade elements refers back to the historic neighbouring buildings and incorporates the building into the ensemble. The facade elements are arranged in rows at the facade this rows being oriented alongside the storey separation of the building. Only at the facade towards the Freyung the new cover deviates from the already existing storey separation. Nine approximately equally high storeys are here reduced to a mere five storeys by means of a storey expanding design; the building adapts its scale to the surrounding buildings.