Listed Building Renovation and Conversion in Gersthof, Vienna
This is the story of the transformation of Gersthof Orthopaedic Hospital into a contemporary educational campus. The building, with its chequered past, is situated in an upmarket residential area in a sprawling park with century-old trees. The striking building from the 1920s is a listed monument, and after the hospital moved out, it was almost converted into luxury apartments. Instead, however, the property was acquired by the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG), who developed a flagship project for the adaptation of existing buildings into contemporary learning landscapes. In this way, it remains open to the public.
Good architecture is not a skin-tight glove precisely tailored to a specific use, rather a loose mitten that accommodates multiple functions, including those not yet foreseeable.
Christian Kühn, Daily newspaper “Die Presse”
Thinking Out of the Corset
Adapting the building within the constraints of monument protection regulations also presented an opportunity to question conventional school building standards and to deviate from them in some respects. For example, the existing five-metre wing depth resulted in classrooms that are narrower but also longer than usual. This, in turn, provided space for individual learning and group work zones as well as a wardrobe. We removed non-loadbearing inner walls to open up the dark central corridors leading to the classrooms. Inviting break and learning areas were introduced between the classrooms. In the corridors, the characteristic red tiles, the skirting boards, and door frames have been preserved in part in their original form – throughout the building, we cite these existing elements in the architectural additions.
Bright Garden instead of Dark Basement
We recessed the terrain to provide access to the park. Now the previously old dark basement connects a ground-level cafeteria and after-school supervision facilities to the bright garden. The former administration building opposite the main building was given a new function as a science centre with laboratories.
Lowtech-Concept
Instead of retrofitting the monument with a mechanical ventilation system that would surely not fulfil preservation regulations, we opted for a low-tech concept with intelligently controlled window ventilation. This school is the first building to receive the “klimaaktiv” sustainability certification with such a services concept.
This architectural specimen between late Secession, Art Deco, and Expressionism obviously enjoyed an in-house appreciation at any early point and has also, despite necessary interventions to meet the needs of its time, been fondly preserved to this day.
Friedrich Achleitner in "Österreichische Architektur im 20. Jahrhundert,“ vol. III/2
Sculptures in the Park
For physical education classes, we added two timber-framed sports pavilions in the southern part of the school grounds. The larger hall is designed as a full-fledged standard gymnasium, whereas the second serves as an exercise hall for alternative sports activities, equipped with a bouldering wall and a mirror wall. With their black-glazed, overlapping wooden slats, the two pavilions stand like sculptures among the old trees, a contemporary architectural addition to the venerable existing buildings.
