"Soyka / Silber / Soyka Architekten" win the competition for realising the head building structure of the Austria Campus at Vienna's Northern Railway Station
- Boris Podrecca, winner of the urban development competition for Bank Austria's new headquarters, presided over the jury in the competition held for the realisation of the head building structure at the gate to Vienna's Northern Railway Station
- The winners of this competition, to which participants were invited, are Soyka / Silber / Soyka Architekten, a renowned team of architects
- Planning permission for the Austria Campus is expected for the first half of 2014, and construction work will start soon afterwards. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016
- The Austria Campus will be built on a gross floor area of 200,000 square metres in line with ecologically sustainable criteria
Preparations for the start of construction work on the Austria Campus are in full swing. The project on the site of the former Northern Railway Station in Vienna's second district is located on the axis between the city centre and Donau-City, an area on the other side of the Danube. The new Austria Campus will involve the development and realisation of five construction fields under Bank Austria's direction.
Following the urban development competition organised for all five construction fields in 2011, and as agreed with the City of Vienna, a separate competition was held for realising the head building structure as a "Gate to the Northern Railway Station" on one of these construction fields. "The Austria Campus, which will accommodate our new corporate headquarters, will be realised as planned to designs by Boris Podrecca," says Willibald Cernko, CEO of Bank Austria. "Boris Podrecca has also presided over the jury in the competition for realising the head building structure. The winners of the competition are Soyka / Silber / Soyka Architekten, a team of architects whose project design fits in well with the urban environment and also matches the overall design of the Austria Campus."
The Austria Campus, an innovative site of international dimension, with a gross floor area of about 200,000 square metres, will be developed by 2016 in line with ecologically sustainable criteria. Bank Austria has taken over five construction fields from ÖBB, the Austrian Federal Railways, for this purpose. The project comprises office buildings, infrastructure units, the Bank Austria Square and a tree-lined, traffic-calmed avenue.
Other facilities will include a 200-room hotel, staff canteens and company kindergartens, a Health Centre and a number of shops. Two underground car parks will accommodate 800 cars.
Commitment of UniCredit to Vienna as a business location
The investment costs for the entire area total about EUR 490 million. The project also underlines Vienna's significance as a business location and, according to current computations of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research, it will provide up to 5,000 jobs.
The zoned construction areas will include up to 9,000 new workplaces, some of these also for other companies. Together with the existing Bank Austria office buildings at Lassallestrasse no. 1 and no. 5 with 3,000 workplaces, the Austria Campus on the site of the Northern Railway Station will provide office space for more than 12,000 persons. The Austria Campus is therefore a clear commitment of UniCredit to Vienna as a business location.
Enquiries: Bank Austria Media Relations Austria
Matthias Raftl, tel. +43 (0) 50505 52809
e-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at
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