(BDT_24_011) VinziRast Residential Conversion and Extension

Description

VinziRast-mittendrin campaigns against social “monocultures” and for human diversity. In addition to addressing a problem, the project is therefore also intended as a political statement. A long-vacant Biedermeier house from 1820 in the centre of Vienna has been stripped, entirely renovated and been given an additional floor. Together with students from the Vienna University of Technology, volunteers and homeless people, the architects Gaupenraub+/− have created an inclusive housing project.

The ground floor of the corner site houses a restaurant with garden in the rear courtyard and three workshop spaces open to the public. The two existing floors together with the new top floor house 26 individual rooms grouped into ten shared apartments. Each apartment has its own kitchenette and bathroom. To promote a sense of community, each floor has a communal kitchen space and communal living room that opens onto an outdoor space on a widened section of the outdoor gallery. In addition to these more communicative spaces there are also places for peace and quiet – for example on the roof. On the street side of the roof level is an atelier that can be used for many purposes while the remainder is a spacious roof terrace with vegetable garden. Consultation rooms, an office, a room for studying and an event space have also been incorporated into the building. The individual storeys can be reached via a lift in the courtyard which provides barrier-free access via the gallery walkways.

A special design feature of the project is the recycling of various materials. Almost 10,000 slats were recycled from wooden fruit and vegetable crates and used to line the walls of the restaurant, lending it a particularly atmospheric feeling. Elsewhere in the house, the mix of simple building materials and old relicts from the building defines the character of the building.

VinziRast-mittendrin is an inclusive housing project initiated by students in conjunction with the Vinzenz Community Association St. Stephan. A concept under the motto “living together” was developed and realised in which students and homeless people can live together.

Students identified the building as having been long vacant and proposed it for the project.

The project began with the discovery of the site in 2009, and in early 2010 the architects undertook an assessment of the condition of the existing building. Motivated by the socio-political statement, “Homelessness is not a problem that should be kept out of sight!” a group of students, association members and the architects met monthly over a period of almost three years to develop the project idea. During the planning application phase (nine months), a group of between three and five homeless people cleared and stripped the building. Construction began officially with professional builders in February 2012 and lasted for 13 months. Up to 50 students and homeless people assisted voluntarily with the construction work in the interior.

The Vinzenz Community Association purchased the original building with the help of a family foundation. All of the renovation, conversion and extension works were financed by loans supplemented by donations, especially of materials and labour from the construction industry. Many helpers and homeless people also provided voluntary labour over a period of two years under the instruction of the architects. Aside from the regular housing subsidies, the project received no further public funding.