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Architects: Zechner & Zechner
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Thilo Härdtlein
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Manufacturers: EQUITONE
Text description provided by the architects. The newly arisen VIERTEL ZWEI is characterised by the all-pervading attempt to develop an urban situation that generates a spatial definition for contemporary worlds of work. This VIERTEL ZWEI, which is dedicated to the use of work in the tertiary and quaternary sector, service and information, has been configured as a self-contained place. The area is noted for having superb internal connection qualities and for the park-style quality of its public zones. The two elements of meadow and water prove that the necessary period of relaxation at work, the breaktime, has also been thought about in a visually present way and as an opportunity to feel. The only two exceptions from the application of work, which constitutes VIERTEL ZWEI, are a hotel and a residential building.
The atmospheric qualities of the landscape planning, the use of water and green space, are as good living as they are for working. The use of work is also present in the residential building STELLA ZWEI. The ground floor zone is formed as a transparent zone and is used for offices. All of the remaining six floors and the roof level of the low energy building are occupied by apartments of four different sizes, from 50 qm2 to 70 and 90 qm2 to the 155 m2 penthouses at the top.
STELLA ZWEI is located in VIERTEL ZWEI in Vienna's 2nd district – near the centre of town in attractive metropolitan surroundings. Alongside great infrastructure and good transport connections, STELLA ZWEI offers a range of open air spaces.
The 5,000 m² lake just around the corner and expansive green spaces in the nearby Prater district take the stress out of living in the city, and the whole area is laid out to be car free, with all parking below ground.
The building layout takes its design cue from the example set by VIERTEL ZWEI. The eight-storey residential building, with its compact bars, extends the structure along the metro tracks, as a contrast to the flowing forms along Trabrennstraße and Trabrennbahn, and creates a border to VIERTEL ZWEI in the direction of Stella-Klein-Löw-Weg.
The external form of the building is defined by the non-uniform placement of loggias, some of which are planned to span two stories. The loggias are bright spaces cut into the anthracite grey box, and this creates a playful and varied facade.
Consistently executed reflections of the floor plans, which result in changes in the positioning of the loggias, creates an outward illustration of these contrasts on the façade. The façade can be read as a picture of the spatial configurations behind. The entire façade is a game between dark and light, inside and outside. this is expressed in the chosen materials: The façade is in dark-grey eternit, the air spaces and the loggias in white render.
This creates an inverted black and white picture between inside and outside, a positive-negative effect. The twists and reflections increase the affinity of the occupants for their living space. In this way, one’s own apartment is understood as an individualised element within a system of apartments.
The ground floor design is an inset base that is transparent towards the lake. Along with shared facilities like the waste disposal room, and storage rooms for bikes and children's buggies, there are offices with modern equipment. A glass lobby that traverses the entire floor provides open vistas and access to the seven residential floors.
The top floor is recessed, and will be covered with bright aluminium panels, as an interesting contrast to the other floors. This step back reduces the apparent height of the building and creates large terraces for the penthouse apartments
The 72 apartments, which range in size from 49 to 115 m², have sophisticated and functional floor plans, generous living rooms, all have their own loggia, fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms as well as desirable wooden floors.
There are six penthouses on the top floor, ranging in size from 98 to 156 m², which are provided with generous terraces.
