Proud and fearless with a shiny aluminum helmet – that’s how you imagine a firefighter. The new building for the voluntary fire department in Klosterneuburg Weidling should be in no way inferior to this.

An abstracted image of the surroundings
The fire station is located on a wooded slope directly on the main road close to the town center. The project intention was to place the volume as a sculpture in such a way that it is not perceived as a building and behaves like a mirror to nature. The conciseness of the building creates a high degree of identification with the place and with the public use of the building. Strikingly unobtrusive.

Clear and efficient spatial arrangement
Along the street, following the slope, the functions are organized on two levels. While the ground floor on the slope side is a supporting concrete structure, the upper floor, made of cross-laminated timber, cantilevers out and forms a canopy for the vehicle hall. The upper floor houses the administration as well as the training and on-call room. Glazed, south-facing double doors lead from all rooms to the roof of the vehicle hall, which is designed as a terrace. Shielded from street noise, the terrace, together with the adjoining on-call room, is also the focal point for social gatherings of the volunteers. At night, the vehicles become particularly visible through the glass doors and become the main actors.

Simple logic of use
The layout of the rooms follows a strict organizational diagram, which allows for a safe, time-saving and compliant workflow during operations and daily use. Light domes also provide sufficient daylight to the checkrooms and the dirt lock located inside the building. The team of the Klosterneuburg Weidling Volunteer Fire Department regularly uses the building for meetings, training, administrative tasks and for maintenance of the vehicle fleet and equipment. The L-shaped room for the fire department youth is accessed from the intermediate landing of the staircase and consists of two room areas of different heights.

Aluminum on the outside, wood on the inside
The surfaces of the raw building materials used, wood, concrete and polished screed, which have remained visible, with their natural colors and reflections, create a technical yet cozy room atmosphere.