Ernas Haus offers comfortable co-living for students looking to live in a small space that is close by to the University of Applied Sciences, whilst getting to know the area and its people. Students can experience the Winder family’s lifestyle firsthand and also enjoy the high-quality produce from the Winderhof farm.
Location and surrounding area: Winderhof is located in the district of Oberdorf, which is arguably the oldest part of Dornbirn. Historically, settlers were attracted to the area by its flood protection and comparatively good foundation soil. The surrounding area is dominated by rural buildings and villas once belonging to textile industrialists, while many plots have been more intensely developed through the addition of small residential blocks in recent years.
Ernas Haus consists of 18 studios averaging 16 m2 in size. All of them have a veranda facing south. Live alone but still among others: With other students as well as the Winder family, who run the Winderhof farm. Students, nomads in this life-phase, come to spend one semester in Dornbirn, and they can feel right at home at Winderhof. The 18 studios provide all they need, with an area for sleeping, kitchenette, bathroom, desk and an internet connection. It’s a quiet space where they can work and relax. The studios are built sustainably and reflect Vorarlberg’s traditional architecture. Ernas Haus is part of the Winderhof ensemble which has gradually grown up around the original building.
The interiors: The interior design is intended to be simple, modern and naturally artisanal. With an emphasis on durability and low maintenance using materials that are free from harmful substances. All the furnishings in the 18 rooms, from the kitchenettes to the bed slats, were built by the building’s owners themselves from oiled birch plywood. The colour of the walls and floors is a reference to one of Austria’s best-known colours from the post-war era: RAL 6010, the grass green of the Steyr tractors that were ubiquitous on the fields between Dornbirn and Eisenstadt.
