In Bolzano, Italy, The Markas Headquarters by ATP architects engineers has received the Austrian Green Planet Building Award 2023. The award honors work carried out internationally by Austrian design offices in the area of sustainable building. In this instance, the jury notes the project’s well-thought-through combination of ecological and social sustainability: “The project sustainably draws on the entire reserve of climate-efficient building ideas while increasing the well-being of employees over the long term.” In line with the strict objectives and criteria of the Austrian climate protection initiative klimaaktiv, the project has received Klimahaus A Certification.
At ground level, the building features a generous public forecourt with trees and a pool of water. From here, an intensely planted ‘garden level’ that includes a biological air conditioning unit alongside the 1,800 new plants rises to a height of 14 meters above several ‘open floors.’ A spiral staircase emerges from these garden levels, marking the start of the actual main office use.
Rising more than 40 meters in height, the building, which was integrally designed with BIM, includes a special V-shaped façade structure that allows for open plan office areas and a total of over 485 windows, which in turn provide a highly desirable daylight factor exceeding 2.0. On days with little sun, tunable white LEDs maintain a natural lighting rhythm.
Ensuring user comfort and a pleasant interior climate, the office areas include a switchable low-temperature system in the form of heating and cooling ceilings and controlled mechanical ventilation, which supplies conditioned air on demand through floor outlets and convectors. Outside air intake comes from the planted and shaded exterior areas, where the air is more suitable than at the roof level. Additional notable energy efficiency measures include automatic solar protection and a heat pump with an annual degree effectiveness of 141%.
