Gasometers Reimagined as Apartment Community

Posted by Johnny Cat in Architecture, Travel & Places on October 14, 2009 at 5:59 pm


Phot by Peter Korrak

Photo by Peter Korrak

For a hundred years or so, Vienna invested in coal/gas energy, but when the plant was decommissioned there were four large gasometers remaining.  The imposing structures sat idly, appearing in the James Bond movie, The Living Daylights and hosting rave parties.

Rather than tear them down, architects designed them to be converted into apartment style housing.  First, they gutted the structures.

Each gasometer was divided into several zones for living (apartments in the top), working (offices in the middle floors) and entertainment and shopping (shopping malls in the ground floors). The shopping mall levels in each gasometer are connected to the others by skybridges.

Additional features:
Over 70 restaurants/bars/cafes
A multiplex cinema with 12 screens
4200 person capacity events hall
Daycare center
The Vienna National Archive
11,000 square meters (118,403 sq ft) of office space
615 apartments
230-bed student dorm

Link with many cool photos.


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COMMENT

9 comments to "Gasometers Reimagined as Apartment Community"

  1. MrJawbones
    October 14th, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    Very neat! It's always fascinating how buildings can be rehabilitated into serving a different purpose.

  2. There are thos that call me Tim
    October 14th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    I've been there. It's a very unsuccessful project. _IF_ you can find your way in, the stores are mostly empty and the apartments are oddly shaped. The top floor ones have great light though. And it's in a neighborhood that is, well, not so great. I really wanted to like it, too.

  3. LisaL
    October 14th, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    Well, unsuccessful or not, the photos of the place look very neat.

  4. Johnny Cat
    October 14th, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    It's true, sometimes efforts like these fail. Walkway Over the Hudson, anyone? But instead of spending needlessly, this was a total transformation. It has a future.

  5. Christophe
    October 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am

    Brilliant. but the sound echos inside must be awful.

  6. Chris Johnston
    October 15th, 2009 at 5:12 am

    I wonder how soon it's going to be used as a filming location.

  7. spunkt
    October 15th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

    A nice reuse of these gasometers. You can find another use of old gasometers in Leipzig and Dresden in Germany. There are huge 360° panoramas in there. In Leipzig the amazonas with previous exhibitions of the Mount Everest and the ancient Rome and in Dreden the baroque view of the city of Dresden. It is also amazing.

  8. Hola
    October 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    Looks neat as hell. Good work y'all.

  9. bernhard
    October 16th, 2009 at 12:06 am

    Well, I know this area, as I live in Vienna. http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/ Build the "Shield" that is visible on the left side. It was very hard to find people who wanted to live in there.
    Second, the shopping center/cinema-center in there is really really bad, and also quite outside of urban areas.
    Third, the tower used to be completely emty, with a round sphere segment as pavement. The Center of the floor thus was raised. Before the reconstruction, the last "Gasometer" was used as a big time Party location. Dirt piling up on the dancefloor diffused to the sides, because of the shape. The acoustics were quite peculiar, each base beat hit you twice. It was on of the hippest locations in Vienna.
    Now instead, they have a big event hall, which is very normal and highly commercial..
    Not everything that shines is actual gold..


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