The Good Neighbour - City Center IKEA | 2021

Vienna, Austria

Architects: querkraft architekten zt gmbh
Landscape Archirtects: Kräftner Landschaftsarchitektur Green4Cities
Structural Engineers: Thomas Lorenz ZT GmbH
Building Physics: Ingenieurbüro P. Jung
Client: IKEA Österreich
Photographers: Christina Häusler

The Good Neighbor urban, car-free IKEA furniture store and hostel with public roof terrace. This building makes an important contribution to the future of a living and ecological city and also to the future of retailing — this is an urban IKEA with excellent connections to the public transport system and an inviting roof terrace — thus, a good neighbor.

At the briefing stage already, the client formulated the aim: “We want to be a good neighbor.” The architects’ approach to achieving this goal is reflected by a building that represents an added value, also for its surroundings.

The roof terrace is accessible to the public offering a place to drink coffee, to relax and to enjoy the view of the city, and a large amount of greenery on all the facades — these are all aspects that contribute to being “a good neighbor.”

External shelving. The building’s external shell recalls a set of shelves. This 4.3-meter-deep, shelf-like zone runs around the building and provides shade. It allows spaces to expand, provides room for terraces and greenery, as well as for servant elements like lifts, escape stairs, and building services.

Openness allows interaction. The entrance level is a lively place – a generous void links it to the retail areas that stretch in front of it along the street. A void extending right through the interior of the building allows visual contact between the different floors.

160 trees on and around the building. Trees on the facade and on the roof have a perceptible impact on the microclimate. As the trees could be placed at different heights and depths in the building there is more planting than would be possible on the building’s ground area.

The climbing plants and trees of the IKEA furniture store have a cooling and humidifying effect — like a kind of natural air conditioning system. The air temperature improves at the pedestrian level, too. Computer simulations indicate a relevant temperature decrease of 1.5°C.

Centralized + efficient building services. To ensure efficient conditioning of the building the services are based on a simple principle: short distances and direct access. In the building the infrastructure is left visible, which increases the perceived height of the space.

Mix of functions through open floor plans. The prefabricated reinforced concrete columns stand on a c. 10 x 10-metre grid that allows flexibility in the use and design of the spaces. Adaptations to meet changing demands can be made easily, as is already becoming apparent.

IKEA retail occupies the lower floors, the Jo&Joe Hostel with 345 beds is located on the top two floors. This mix creates a building that is alive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.