The ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) has decided to build their corporate headquarters in the immediate vicinity of the new Vienna main train station. The Viennese architectural firm Zechner & Zechner emerged as winners from the two-stage, EU-wide architectural planning competition.
photography by © Markus Kaiser
The aim of the concept was to find an outstanding architectural object for the corporate headquarters, which was to provide optimal working and communication conditions for the approximately 1600 employees from various different ÖBB companies.
The 88m high office tower acts – since its completion in 2014 – as a landmark for the new district south of the new Central Train Station. An S-shaped curve of the building and the recess at the site‘s northern border open the structure to the forecourt. The dynamically curved main form and the smooth rounded surface are reminiscent of modern high-speed trains.
The configuration of the floor plan allows maximum flexibility of the various office organization options. The strategy of reversible offices has proven to be the optimal concept in terms of investment because of its high flexibility, which makes it easily adaptable to individual user‘s requirements.
photography by © Helmut Pierer
Zechner & Zechner designed a sustainable “slim building” with low primary energy consumption and limited use of domestic engineering, while at the same time having a healthy and comfortable climate. Regulatable external sun blinds, natural ventilation, heat dissipation via automatic ventilation, the redirection of light to optimize natural illumination and reduce energy consumption for lighting and natural humidification with islands of plants are used to achieve this.
The building is equipped with a double skin façade and supplied by district heating and cooling. Thanks to the activation of thermal mass and consistent use of waste heat, a very low total energy consumption can be guaranteed.
The Austrian Society for Sustainable Real Estate (ÖGNI) awarded the certificate in gold to the ÖBB Headquarter. In October 2017, the building was awarded the “American Architecture Prize” for high-rise buildings.
photography by© Markus Kaiser
Project Info:
Architects: Zechner & Zechner
Location: Alfred-Adler-Straße 107, Wien, Austria
Area: 57,800 m2
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Markus Kaiser, Helmut Pierer
Manufacturers: Zumtobel
Project Name: ÖBB Headquarter
Isabelle Laurent is a Built Projects Editor at Arch2O, recognized for her editorial insight and passion for contemporary architecture. She holds a Master’s in Architectural Theory from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville. Before joining Arch2O in 2016, she worked in a Paris-based architectural office and taught as a faculty adjunct at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. Isabelle focuses on curating projects around sustainability, adaptive reuse, and urban resilience. With a background in design and communication, she brings clarity to complex ideas and plays a key role in shaping Arch2O’s editorial