The impossible furniture store
Directly at the Vienna Westbahnhof, where the “Blue House” once stood, it is being built, the new innovative furniture store from IKEA. The 7-storey building with a unique city store concept will offer plenty of space for people. Thus, in addition to the usual retail areas, a restaurant, a hotel and a green roof terrace are part of the building.
Hej
The architects envisioned the building as a modular piece of furniture. Designed as a skeleton structure, Peikko beams and Cofrastra ceilings are used, the envelope is extended by a “steel grid” that extends around the building like a cage and is also greened.
All this presented Thomas Lorenz and his team with major challenges. A particular headache for the structural engineers was the Vienna subway running under the building, which must neither be overloaded nor affected by vibrations or movements during construction. Impossible these Swedes.
Static-constructive processing
Structural Engineering
2017-2021
