Kick-off of urban planning competition for "UniCredit Bank Austria Campus" at Vienna's Northern Railway Station
- At its constituent meeting held today, the jury launched the urban planning competition for the "UniCredit Bank Austria Campus" at Vienna's Northern Railway Station
- This milestone project adjacent to the Northern Railway Station will be realised in close cooperation with the City of Vienna. Construction work is planned to be completed by the end of 2015
UniCredit Bank Austria, in close cooperation with the City of Vienna, is opening a new chapter in the development of the Northern Railway Station area by carrying out, on a voluntary basis, an urban planning competition by way of invitations to submit anonymous tenders.
The jury – composed of representatives of the City of Vienna, renowned architects and Bank Austria's CEO Willibald Cernko – has today held its constituent meeting. Willibald Cernko: "We are carrying out an urban planning competition on the basis of invitations to submit anonymous tenders. As a private company we thereby ensure that the City of Vienna's plans for urban development and the interests of Vienna's second district are taken into account in the project. We expect the results of the competition to be available in September 2011. This will mark an important stage in the project."
Both renowned and young Austrian and international architects will be invited to participate in the competition. The criteria applied by the jury in arriving at its decision will include urban development in an overall context, the internal and external architectural impact, functionality, flexibility of use, efficiency, and energy-related and ecological sustainability. This will be the basis for the official decision on land use for the plots concerned. Planning permission will probably be granted at the end of 2012. Construction work will commence immediately afterwards, at the beginning of 2013, and will be completed by the end of 2015. The UniCredit Bank Austria Campus at Vienna's Northern Railway Station is planned to be opened and put into operation in early 2016.
UniCredit Bank Austria Campus at the Northern Railway Station
The area of the former Northern Railway Station is among the major development zones in Vienna. The project along the axis linking the city centre and "Donau City" will provide impetus to Vienna as a whole. The new business centre will combine innovation with international stature, meeting the standards of ecological sustainability. Additional buildings with a combined gross floor area of up to 196,000 square metres will complement the existing buildings in Lassallestrasse.
Construction cost (depending on the final development stage) will total up to EUR 280 million. In addition to offices for 4,000 employees of Bank Austria, up to 5,000 physical workplaces will be rented to other companies.
The project is a strong positive signal for Vienna as a business location. Based on the standard calculations of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research, it will create up to 2,500 jobs. Overall, i.e. including Bank Austria's existing office buildings in Lassallestrasse 1 and 5, the UniCredit Bank Austria Campus at Vienna's Northern Railway Station will provide office space for more than 12,000 people. Service and leisure facilities will complement the UniCredit Bank Austria Campus, by which UniCredit underlines its strong commitment to Vienna as a business location.
Enquiries: Bank Austria Media Relations Austria
Matthias Raftl, tel. +43 (0) 50505 - 2809
e-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at
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