The new campus was planned with the goal of providing all of WU’s faculty, staff, and students with the best possible conditions for work and study. To achieve this goal, well-thought-out floor plans were realized using sustainable construction materials and methods.
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A Unique Campus
Campus WU is characterized by its six distinct building complexes, designed by renowned international architects. The generously proportioned open grounds between the individual buildings invite students, faculty, and visitors to stroll around and relax.
Visitors entering the Campus WU from the east entrance find themselves on the busiest spot on campus. The square outside the Teaching Center is a popular meeting area for teachers and students, and there’s always people coming and going. The wide, inviting seating installations are in high demand. The Teaching Center and the neighboring department building D1 were planned by the Vienna-based architectural agency BUSarchitektur. The façade is made of maintenance-free Corten steel, which will slowly change color as it weathers over the years. Entering the Teaching Center, visitors find themselves in a spacious, light-filled atrium. The entrance to WU’s largest auditorium, the Audimax, is located here in the atrium. Areas for individual study are spaced around the atrium in a spiral pattern. There is also a direct entrance to the Mensa cafeteria from the atrium. The cafeteria connects the Teaching Center with the department building D1.
KEY FACTS
›› Six building complexes with 100,000 m2 total floor space
›› Lot size: 90,000 m2, 560 m in length and between 150 and 210 m wide
›› Grounds: 55,000 m2
›› Approx. 4,000 rooms, including 90 auditoriums and other classrooms,
seating a total of approx. 5,000
›› Approx. 3,000 student workstations, 1,500 of which are located in the OMV Central Library
Across from the Teaching Center is the wavy, black-and-white façade of the Student Center/D2 complex designed by Japanese architect Hitoshi Abe. The two long, gracefully curved buildings appear to be constructed of stacked layers of contrasting color. The distance between the units is calculated to allow for a maximum of natural light in the buildings’ interior. Four departments, one research institute, the Berndorf Library for Business Languages, the offices of the WU branch of the Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH), a public child care center, a supermarket, a bookstore, and a restaurant are located in this complex. The Library & Learning Center by Zaha Hadid is the heart of the campus, both geographically and figuratively. The cantilevered roof with its sweeping glass front (the “monitor”) is visible from afar. Coming closer, visitors will realize that the building is divided into two sections, separated by a vein of glass running the length of the building. Inside, the impressive, futuristic entrance hall rises four stories high. After passing through the entrance hall, the building splits into two parts, connected by walkways. The OMV Central Library takes up most of the building, extending in a funnel shape over six floors. The building also houses all study-related service units, IT Services, and two cafés. To the west of the square in front of the Library & Learning Center, the neighboring buildings are the bright orange and yellow complex designed by Sir Peter Cook and CRABstudio, and a department complex planned by Carme Pinós. Peter Cook’s organiclooking ensemble D3/AD is made up of two main buildings, a department building and an administrative building, and houses WU’s law departments, the Library for Law, WU’s management and administration, and a bakery shop. The brightly colored façades are fronted with a lively arrangement of vertically and horizontally mounted wooden planks, intended as a visual reference to the trees of nearby Prater Park. The building interiors are characterized by rounded, flowing shapes and bright primary colors.
The most prominent feature of the department building D4, directly across from the D3/AD complex, is a multitude of parallelograms, found both in the basic plan of the building and in the façade. The playful arrangement of the geometric shapes results in a livelylooking building with offset windows. Academic departments, research institutes, the Library for Social Sciences, and a restaurant are located in this complex designed by Spanish architect Carme Pinós. A few steps further on, the WU Executive Academy building marks the western perimeter of the campus. The compact, seven-story tower was designed by Madrid architects NO.MAD Arquitectos, based on a mono-material design principle. The outer façade is made of glass and aluminum. Different degrees of transparency, from opaque to completely translucent, reflect the sky and the surrounding greenery, integrating the building perfectly into its environment. In addition to the Executive Academy’s offices and classrooms, the building also houses two restaurants.
Intelligent Architecture
The new campus was planned with the goal of providing all of WU’s faculty, staff, and students with the best possible conditions for work and study. To achieve this goal, well-thought-out floor plans were realized using sustainable construction materials and methods.
The top priority when planning the campus was to create a working environment for students, faculty, and staff that encourages productivity and communication. Intelligent room planning with the right rooms for individual working styles was a key factor in realizing this goal. The campus buildings also reflect the three-phase Bologna academic structure: The Teaching Center, where most of the campus’ auditoriums are located, is intended mainly for bachelorlevel teaching. Most of the master and PhD-level programs are taught in the department buildings, and continuing education programs are held in the WU Executive Academy building.
Sustainability in all areas was also a main consideration. Economic, ecological, and social sustainability aspects were included in all aspects of planning. The buildings are all based on the same overall technical concept: The building infrastructure is standardized in terms of construction, energy supply, ventilation, and sanitary facilities. The entire campus was designed in accordance with “green building” principles. Much of the required energy is obtained using geothermal energy from groundwater, and all buildings are equipped with energy-saving occupancy-sensitive and daylight-sensitive lighting systems. Waste heat recovery systems channel the heat produced by WU’s IT infrastructure back into the campus energy supply network.
“The WU Welcome Center in the Library & Learning Center is an inspiring workplace with outstanding architecture, and guests to the Welcome Center are always very impressed by the atmosphere.” (Gabriele Singer, International Office, Welcome Center)
Another key feature of Campus WU is barrier-free accessibility. The campus not only complies with all existing legal guidelines, it also incorporates additional features adapted from best practice examples. All auditoriums are specially equipped for people with disabilities, all areas are designed to be wheelchair accessible, and the campus also features a tactile guidance system for the visually impaired.
Learning Landscapes
In addition to its impressive architecture, Campus WU also offers students and teachers state-of-the-art classrooms and teaching equipment.
AUDITORIUMS AND CLASSROOMS All of the large auditoriums and most of the smaller seminar rooms and classrooms are in the Teaching Center building, and additional smaller classrooms are located on the ground floors of the department buildings for barrier-free accessibility. All classrooms and auditoriums on campus have natural daylight for a pleasant teaching and learning atmosphere.
WU’s largest auditorium, the Audimax, seats close to 650. Smaller auditoriums seat 180, 120, or 60, and seminar rooms seat up to 30 occupants. All classrooms on campus are administered using a central booking system. This software coordinates all room reservations on campus and allows for efficient room management.
Classrooms are equipped with both traditional teaching aids like flipcharts and whiteboards as well as state-of-theart presentation technology. Almost all rooms are equipped with double projection screens, allowing teachers to present multiple visuals at the same time. Digital whiteboards allow both teachers and students to present, rearrange, and combine materials in new and creative ways. Notes taken during the presentation directly on the presented materials can be saved as a PDF file and uploaded to WU’s eLearning system Learn@WU.
INDIVIDUAL STUDY AREAS AND PROJECT ROOMS
Increasing the number of student workstations was a key goal when planning the new campus. Most of the new workstations are located in the Library & Learning Center, but study zones are also available in the department buildings and the specialist libraries. With approximately 3,000 workstations, WU was able to double the number of places available at its old location. Different working environments were created to suit every learning need. Quiet study zones are perfect for intense, concentrated studying, whereas in communicative study areas, students can converse and work together.
Project rooms are a completely new room category. Project rooms are available in a variety of sizes (seating 2–20) and can be booked by teachers for small classes or breakout sessions or by students for group projects or study group activities.
COMPUTER LABS
The new campus has a number of computer labs, two of which are in the Library & Learning Center and three in the Teaching Center. Computer labs are open to students when not in use for classes. The Departments of Socio economics and Information Systems and Operations also have their own computer labs.
RAIFFEISEN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTER
The Raiffeisen Language Resource Center is a modern language teaching facility. Its comprehensive selection of teaching materials and digital resources gives students numerous ways to learn and efficiently master foreign languages. The Center’s new rooms on campus provide ideal conditions for independent language learning.
The Department of Foreign Language Business Communication also has state-of-the-art language labs for its language classes. The student computers installed in the labs are linked together in a network and the teaching environment facilitates a wide variety of language-learning activities.
Room for Knowledge
Research is one of WU’s core competences. The architecture of the campus creates space for efficient academic work and for gathering knowledge.
Campus WU was built to reflect the university’s academic structure, which is organized into departments. Previously, the individual institutes that make up each department were scattered across various locations – now they are concentrated into the campus’ four department buildings for increased convenience and efficiency in the faculty’s everyday work.
The department buildings were designed to create the best possible working conditions for WU’s faculty and staff. Light-filled, well-equipped offices allow for optimal concentration, productivity, and creativity. Conference rooms are available for working in teams. All conference rooms are equipped for audio-visual presentations. Spacious lounges and break areas in the institutes and departments encourage informal networking and communication.
LIBRARIES
The WU library is the largest of its kind in Austria and one of the largest in the German-speaking world. It is organized into four libraries on Campus WU. The OMV Central Library, the largest of the four, is located in the Library & Learning Center, and the specialist libraries are housed in different department buildings, giving WU’s researchers fast and easy access to the literature they need for their work.
The OMV Central Library, spread over a total of six floors, has 1,500 student workstations and 66 computer workstations. In the library’s Mondi Newslounge, over 70 daily newspapers, weekly papers, magazines, and business and economics magazines are available for reading. The Library PressDisplay gives library users access to over 1,600 daily newspapers from over 90 different countries.
The Library for Law is located in the D3 building with all of WU’s law departments, and contains literature from all legal fields. Building D4 houses the Library for Social Sciences, in close proximity to the Departments of Socioeconomics and Economics. The Berndorf Library for Business Languages has a wide selection of media on linguistics and foreign languages, as well as current periodicals in the languages taught at WU. This library is intended mainly to aid the faculty of the Department of Foreign Language Business Communication in their teaching and research. All specialist libraries have work and study areas, project rooms, and color scanners.
Open Spaces
A stroll across campus makes it clear that the planners also had the rest and relaxation needs of its future occupants in mind. The grounds between the buildings are a park-like landscape with walkways and open spaces, lawns and fountains, lush plantings, and inviting seating installations. The various outdoor furnishings are as diverse as the buildings, created to inspire visitors to take a short break or sit down for a longer rest. In front of the Teaching Center, students and visitors sit and lounge on the wide, comfortable wooden platforms, while smaller seating niches nestled into the large planters dot the area in front of the D3 building. Between the AD and D4 buildings, an artificial island surrounded by water on three sides is furnished with organically formed concrete seats and tables designed by Vienna designers Graulicht. A softly rolling green landscape forms an inviting, sofa-like seating area across from the Executive Academy building.
“The campus makes studying at WU a special experience. Even in difficult moments, it offers an oasis of peace and quiet. WU much more than just a university – it’s art in concrete.” (Jens Krebes, student)
Campus WU also has a wide selection of restaurants and cafés to suit every taste. Ranging in size from the Mensa cafeteria to intimate small cafés, most hospitality providers on campus also have outdoor seating in the summer months. Insider tip: The restaurant Comida y Luz on the top floor of the Executive Academy building offers a spectacular view of Vienna from above. The campus grounds were designed to be a space for communication. The recreational areas and restaurants on campus are not just for WU’s students, faculty, and staff, but also for neighbors, passersby, and other visitors.
Via one of the three main entrances or one of the smaller entranceways, the campus grounds are open for exploring 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Cold and rainy days are no problem on campus, either: Faculty and staff have comfortable lounges and seating areas for lunch and coffee breaks, and students can use the six student lounges distributed among the department buildings. Student lounges are furnished with couches, tables, and chairs and are perfect for eating, relaxing, or meeting friends between classes.
Space for Events
WU is venue to numerous events that take place outside of the university’s everyday academic activities. With its panel discussion and lecture series, for example “Open Minds” and “Wirtschaft Wissenschaft Unplugged,” WU presents controversial topics for debate. WU also hosts conferences and congresses both large and small, bringing international experts and speakers to Vienna.
Campus WU offers appropriate rooms for these and other events. The Ceremonial Halls on the ground floor of the Library & Learning Center seat 400 and 200 guests and are equipped with state-of-the-art presentation technology. Smaller events can be held in the club lounge upstairs in the Library & Learning Center or in the Executive Academy foyer. Six conference rooms seating between 20 and 80 people are located in the AD building. Auditoriums can also be used for lectures or panel discussions. The Forum in the Library & Learning Center is the ideal venue for largerscale events, including WU’s bachelorlevel graduation ceremonies, small trade fairs, and informational events for students. Open-air events can be held on the StageWU, directly opposite the Library & Learning Center. The raised platform, reached by a series of broad steps, makes a perfect stage for outdoor events.
