A reworked Viennese apartment building by Architektur Steinbacher Thierrichter employs a ‘folded’ glass facade

Buildings.

Photos
Christian Schellander

Designed by Architektur Steinbacher Thierrichter, Wohnbau Westbahnstrasse is a refurbished four-storey apartment block located on a corner plot near the centre of Vienna. One of the architect’s principal aims was to create a focal point for the prominent site that would contrast with the historic context. To this end it employed a folded geometric facade design using a StoVentec glass rainscreen cladding system.

“The surrounding buildings date mainly from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,” says architect Roland Thierrichter. “They follow strict historic and orthogonal rules, and generally feature stone or plaster facades. The glass panels are intended to mirror these facades while creating a unique aesthetic. Their sharp lines and white opaque finish give the appearance of a large origami model.”

The facade is inclined five per cent towards the street to increase its presence. Black, aluminium-framed strip windows, combined with dark (open) joints between the panels and a monotone material palette, are intended to further accentuate its geometric form.

Secretly-fixed back to an aluminium support frame, the prefabricated, 8mm-thick, oblong- and wedge-shaped cladding panels are madefrom toughened glass bonded to lightweight carrier boards and integral carrier profiles. Sandwiched between the aluminium frame and the building’s masonry substrate is 125mm of mineral wool insulation.

In contrast to the main Westbahnstrasse facade, the rendered Bandgasse elevation is painted dark grey and features a series of stacked ribbon windows with projecting metal frames lining the perimeter of the openings.

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Credits

Architect
Architektur Steinbacher Thierrichter
Specialist facade contractor
Zeba
StoVentec glass rainscreen cladding system
Sto