Thresholds (Myth)

Team Point of View

The project considers the thematic concept of ‘third space’ as a threshold between the urban and suburban, celebrating the qualities of both. While the narrow floor plates and urban block structures of the old town promote a vibrant streetscape, the use of this typology is limited to small-scale retail, cafes and restaurants. Larger enterprises, productive activities that require large cohesive spaces, and logistical circulation are thus pushed into the suburban areas. This project brings together the typology of the urban block, with the anonymous ‘big box’ that characterizes the suburban periphery. The project aims to collide both typologies, introducing new programmatic possibilities.

Jury Point of View

The project proposes an innovative approach to combine productive urban and suburban typologies into one. The typology of the historic town centre (limited to small businesses) and the peripheral productive activities, which require far more space and interconnection in those spaces, are brought together. The concept redefines programmatic possibilities by merging the two typologies using compact urban blocks, thresholds instead of edges and courtyards defined by Big Boxes.

2020 - …
The two runner-up teams were commissioned to further develop the proposals in line with the demands of ÖBB and the city of Villach. The result was that Public Office team received the commission for the larger site owned by ÖBB, while the other runner-up team were offered a smaller site owned by the city.
Public Office adjusted the ratio between living and working spaces and added more built area to meet the targets set out by the client and they also designed the landscape areas.
ÖBB arranged for a local partner Ernst Rainer to coordinate the project with the Europan team Public Office. His role is to handle production of the main planning documents and advise the team on regulatory issues. Public Office is responsible for further developing the design and presentation documents. The built area has been expanded, primarily to provide a noise protection massing that was deemed needed for the project by the noise consultants. The team also elaborated further multifunctional typologies for the site that would be more attractive to potential investors in the site.
The team delivered the final masterplan documents and the project is currently studied for the detail plan by the city planners.
Moving forward, together with the city they applied for pilot project funding as part of a partnership between ÖBB and the City of Villach. The goal is to get national funding to realize some of the shared infrastructure with the Europan team as part of the public space planning team. After which the team hope to work with investors and developers to realize certain plots on the site, while others will go out to open competition.