OeAD-Gästehaus Molkereistrasse

"We wanted to construct a building that was as compact as possible and create a structural design which improves all the lighting conditions of a rather deep and long building. We ended up creating one of the largest buildings which meets the passive-house standard in Europe," Baumschlager Eberle Architects.

OeAD-Gästehaus Molkereistrasse, Vienna, Austria
"We wanted to construct a building that was as compact as possible and create a structural design which improves all the lighting conditions of a rather deep and long building. We ended up creating one of the largest buildings which meets the passive-house standard in Europe," Baumschlager Eberle Architects.

When finished in 2005, the Guest House of the University of Vienna on Molkereistrasse was the largest passive house in the world, with room for more than 800 international students a year.


Cooking and partying while saving energy
Noise, odours and a great deal of pressure on the heating and water supply are the main challenges when building student housing. The architect aimed at optimising the thermal and hygrical comfort using passive measures such as super insulation and optimizing acoustics to reduce noise and odours. 

Gift Siraprom, a former resident says: "Living there from 2005 to 2009 was a very good experience. There was no problem with the noise and I rarely heard anything from the rooms next door. Except, of course, when they had parties."

With its' energy-efficient measurers, the building keeps energy costs to a minimum without reducing living comfort and students can heat and air out their rooms whenever they wish,the architect explains.


Energy efficiency is part of the design
The indoor climate and acoustic comfort are optimized by ROCKWOOL® insulation and the efficient heat recovery from used air inside the building. Combined with solar energy and passive preheating of fresh air, the building is able to maintain its low energy consumption.

"Real energy-efficient measures must be part of the design from the beginning. They cannot be applied later or reduced, if the architecture of today is going to meet the needs of tomorrow," say the architects atBaumschlager Eberle.


A young building in old Vienna
Built in the historic area of Vienna and surrounded by 19^th century classical buildings, the student housing fits well into the neighbourhood.

The Baumschlager Eberle architects explain: "Because of its elegance, the massive façade with its classic windows and copper window shutters reflects the Viennese architecture.If all the shutters are closed, you see a smooth shelland the building becomes more of asculpture than a building."

The light shafts penetrate the building from the roof to the ground floor and bring natural light to every part of the building, making it possible to place flats on each side of the corridor.

"In this way,less space is needed AND an interesting shaft of light is brought into the building," the architects explain.


Better than the rest
The Sustainability Monitoring survey of student housing in Vienna from 2008 shows that user satisfaction is extremely high at OeAD Gästhaus. In addition, energy performance and climate protection performance in terms of heating the space and hot water generation are very good compared to other Viennese student housing projects.

The intelligent mechanical and electrical services, including a ventilation system that ensures a constant, regulated exchange of air, result in a reduction of heating requirements per residential unit to 500 hours per year.