Under Sails

Seeparkcampus West

Seestadt Aspern is a huge urban development project in the northeast of Vienna and brings together those office buildings that provide answers to the question of what architecture can actually do to reform working environments. The complex called “Seeparkcampus West” completed in 2017 – planned by BFA Büro für Architektur Wien for cetus Baudevelopment GmbH – would be at the forefront of this because, without having to look closely at the concretely related and detailed interiors on the floors, it illustrates well in purely structural terms what has to be achieved for this.

The primary task is, of course, to convert the required 15,600 square meters of gross floor area. This requires optimized floor plans: usable here for up to 480 permanently occupied workstations. Thanks to demountable partition walls, each of the six above-ground floors can be divided into two or three independent office units and remain flexible in terms of space.

This is followed by the environmentally sensitive design: A reinforced concrete skeleton was therefore chosen as the load-bearing structure, which allows exterior walls made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber wall elements. On top of everything sits an extensively greened roof with a photovoltaic system. Interior working conditions are enhanced by many floor-to-ceiling windows with daylighting, while volumetric variety is provided by the impressively high atrium that serves as the main circulation area. The appearance of the building within the multitude of mostly uniform office cubes is also decisive for the identification with the workplace.

The sails

The 110-meter-long, polygonally structured architecture has an unmistakable appearance; building curves on the eastern side form squares on the outside – inside, this creates varied movement zones and office units. However, the wooden facades with their upright window formats are the absolute attraction. Above the base level, a layer of 1949 “sails” is superimposed on them – vertical and visually diagonally positioned sliding shutters made of sheet steel panels that electronically adjust to the course of the sun and provide the necessary shading or opening to the interior spaces, just as required for glare-free workplaces and differentiated air-conditioning economy. In this way, the exterior appearance of this working world is always changing a little and corresponding with the environment.

What do you consider to be the supporting qualities of a good workplace?

BFA Büro für Architektur: Among the qualities of a contemporary workplace, we count an individually adaptable space that at the same time offers room for dialog and tranquility. In the case of the “Seeparkcampus”, for example, these are the wooden wall elements, the movable, perforated shading panels, and the natural daylight that is controlled by them.

Do you see any comparability in interior design for living and for working?

People generally spend more time at work than in their own homes, and work-life balance is taking on an increasingly important role. The aspects of well-being and identification contribute strongly to work performance or satisfaction within a company.

Which functional aspects do you consider to be the most significant in the future development of workspaces?

The flexibility within a workspace, both in the spatial, material and atmospheric sense, will significantly shape the further development of our working environments.