Timber Reaches Towering Heights

One of the largest urban development projects of Europe is currently emerging in Seestadt Aspern near Vienna: a new quarter with housing for more than 20,000 people and jobs in the production and services sectors, in scientific institutes and research and educational institutions. The skyline of this quarter will be dominated by a high-rise building designed and built by Lainer’s firm: the Hoho. The 24-storey timber building is currently the tallest of its kind worldwide. 

In Lainer’s view, however, the flagship project not only constitutes an integrative element of the quar­ter. He underlines the future practical urban value of the timber high-rise. An innovative construction system provides maximum flexibility and practical usability of the floor space. The high-rise is constructed in a hybrid design, in other words not exclusively of timber, and this helps ac­complish variable and completely flexible floor plans.

Based on this design approach, Lainer’s team has developed a system that contributes substantially towards synergies of economic efficiency and ecology, as well as architecture and practical value.