The concept of the COOP HIMMELB(L)AU Gasometer B adds three new volumes to the existing facade: The cylinder inside the Gasometer, the striking addition of the shield that is visible from outside, and the multifunctional event hall situated in the base of the Gasometer. The four historical Gasometers originally housed the tanks for the gas supply of Vienna. After the closure of these Gasometers the interior elements were dismantled, leaving the classical facades.
Inside the cylinder and the shield are apartments and offices. The lighting for these inside spaces is provided by the conical innercourt and that for the outside through the historical Gasometer wall. The lighting for the shield is provided through a spacious north-oriented glass facade with loggias. The 330 apartments offer differentiated living forms, ranging from 3-room-maisonette-apartments and loft-apartments to smaller ones like student apartments. By combining office and apartment uses, new ways of working and living are expected.
The Gasometer can be accessed either from the outside via Guglgasse, or directly from the subway station through the connecting shopping mall. The mall connects all Gasometers on the ground level. Inside the Gasometer B a spacial and functional buffer between the event hall and the apartment/office wing is created, internal communication is thereby intensified. The “sky lobby” on the seventh floor provides an additional break in the apartment zone and creates a common area for residents.
The event hall is a column-free, self-supporting shell construction in the Gasometer that is freestanding and not constructively connected to the residential building above it. Functionally, structurally and acoustically the operation of the event hall is thus uncoupled from the apartment building.
