Brotfabrik in Wien-Ottakring, A
description

The bread factory, a reinforced concrete building with a (listed) tiled façade, is among the finest examples of early industrial architecture in Vienna. I t was built in 1908/09 by the famous architects Hubert and Franz Gessner, but has undergone a number of adaptations. T he interior was originally organised strictly according to the technical requirements of production: the flour store was at the very top, beneath the roof, while the baking area of this industrial bakery was at the bottom. The loft-like character of the spaces in fact allowed only one solution: an office location with special qualities, ideally suited for young, innovative businesses. And indeed it is above all firms from the advertising and electronics branches that have moved in here. However until this stage could be reached it was necessary to carry out numerous measures to ensure that the new use would function. T here was a need for additional vertical circulation as well as for offices with differentiated floor plans, some of which are organised on a single level, while others are split-level or two-storey.
HVP dealt with the existing building in a respectful way, all the interventions made are clearly visible. Because it was felt to be important that the unattractive firewall of a gymnasium defining the depth of the site should vanish from view, Hubert Hermann placed a relatively low, three-storey new building with a translucent Profilit glass façade in front of it. This building houses the access to the garage and is used as an archive and storage space (it is north-facing). A special feature worthy of mention: on the roof there is a pergola clad with expanded metal, and a field of lavender – leisure time quality amidst the stress of work. Very special, too, are the elements on the roof of another part of the building: three of them round, two square but all with a hint of an UFO that has silently landed here, in which one can think (playfully).
The main attraction visible from outside is the atrium. I t was embedded in the ground slightly, to ensure that the even workspaces at the very bottom receive sufficient light. And through a rather spectacular architectural measure – a dark, dynamically curved, concrete trellis – it is given a character all of its own. Thinking in architectural layers in its purest form: the existing building shimmers through, the contemporary intervention is laid carefully over it. Onion architecture.
DATA

Client: Kallco Projekt GmbH
Start of planning: 1997
Start of construction: 1999
Completion: 2001
Usable floor area: 5.500 m2
Enclosed volume: 72.000 m3
Outdoor area: 450 m2