
Linz Anton Bruckner Privatuniversitat (AT)
LOCATION:
Linz (A)
ARCHITECT:
Architekturbüro 1
MODEL:
Dafne
MORE INFO:
www.architekturbuero1.com (architect)
For ten years, Anton Bruckner University, located in Linz, was a music school without a real home; founded in 2004 as the successor to the local Bruckner Conservatory, its institutes were distributed over several locations in the city. Even then, they were plagued with a lack of space.
To provide relief, the State of Upper Austria launched a single-phase, EU-wide architecture competition for the design of a new building in 2008. The local Architekturbüro 1 – already collaborating with the primary specialist planners – prevailed against 47 rivals.
The school, which has three above-ground and two subterranean levels, offers space for 850 students, 220 teachers and up to 600 event visitors. Underground, we find storage and technical rooms, the garage and a few practice rooms. The biggest spatial volumes are located on the ground floor: a large concert hall, a hall for organ and chamber music as well as studios for dance and sound respectively. The east end of the ground floor accommodates then teaching and lecture rooms. Administration offices and about 100 smaller teaching and practice rooms are found on both upper storeys.
From a distance, the high, rectangular windows can hardly be seen, for an outer façade layer of white aluminum slats envelops the building almost completely. The only exceptions here are the entries from the street to the north and the building-high, leaning post-and-mullion façade opening onto the park to the south.
When it comes to sustainability, the clients and architects had certain ambitions. Right from the competition phase, it was required that the new building should meet Austrian passive-energy standards. The school, which features triple glazing and 30 cm of insulation in both façades and roof, meets these requirements easily. Furthermore, a 200-m² photovoltaic system with a capacity of 30 kWp has been installed and will supply about 30,000 kWh of electricity every year.
The inclined walls symbolise dance and movement. For shading, the building is circled by 365 bright vertical lamellae who also give ease and a special, musical touch to the building. The serial arrangement of the lamellae create associations with music and musical instruments, underlined by the rising shape of the building ´s height. Wrapped in this lamellar dress or light curtain, the sculptural building seems to merge with the surrounding trees.
Acoustics have been a great matter right from the beginning. Form and function really follow each other. Due to the organic form of the building, you nearly don´t find any orthogonal room –which is a great acoustic benefit, because in this way the dreaded flutter echoes – caused by parallel walls – are eliminated. The acoustically sensitive concert halls are surrounded by the huge air-space of the foyer. Regarding the interior furnishing, a holistic way of thinking both room acoustics and design was a special concern. Thus, the Dafne chairs installed have wooden standards and plywood outer panels for seat and back to get the acoustic performance required by the customer.