youth hostel gerlos

Christine Lechner

(completion 2021) The aim of this project was to make affordable school trips possible in an ecological environment. That is why the hotel was built from regional wood in solid wood construction, the hotel is heated by biomass district heating, the journey is mainly by coach and the leftover wood of the cross-laminated timber walls was processed into furniture.

The main structure of the youth guest house is designed as a longitudinal structure in timber construction. The urban and spatial intention is to create a south-facing U-shaped “village square” between the main building and the street, which functions as a mediating semi-public zone between the youth hostel and the surrounding buildings. This square is accompanied by two side wings at ground level, which are spatially differentiated towards east and west as a landscape wave and allow the square to sink into the landscape as a cut in the terrain. These wings with greenery on the roof merge with the environment. When you approach the youth hostel, it appears as a simple wooden structure.

Access to the main structure is through a single-storey area that is glazed over the entire width from the village square. The height of this area corresponds to the poured-in wings of the building that flank the village square and allows the main structure to float like a bridge over the village square. Spatial complexity arises when approaching the building. As you delve deep into the landscape along the course of the village square, more and more views of the lower-lying landscape emerge through the main building. This takes place through numerous air spaces between the floors, which give the simple structure a visual permeability on closer inspection. The ground floor on the level of the village square contains the foyer, from which the floors are accessed with ramps. This access is positioned centrally over the entire width of the longitudinal structure and extends the space of the foyer vertically.

Planning partners: Static: Forsthuber ZT GmbH

Client: Jugendgästehaus Gerlosplatte GmbH

Category: Recreation and Tourism

Project Gallery

02 - lechner lechner - 72 Dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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03 - lechner lechner - 72 Dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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07 - lechner lechner - 72 Dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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08 - lechner lechner - 72 Dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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16 - lechner lechner - 72 Dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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17 - lechner -lechner _300dpi.jpg, © Julian Hoeck, Photographer: Julian Hoeck
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