Zaha Hadid Architects wins competition for the Library and Learning Centre at the University of Economics & Business, Vienna, Austria

Zaha Hadid Architects have been selected as the architects of the Library and Learning Centre (LLC) at the University of Economics & Business, Vienna. The new Library and Learning Centre will be the centerpiece of the University’s new campus and provide a significant upgrade to the University’s services. In addition to the new library, the LLC will also provide a language laboratory, tutorial rooms, administration offices, student centre, book shop, cafeteria, clubrooms and event space.

The new Library and Learning Centre rises as a polygonal block from the centre of the new university campus. The LLC’s design takes the form of a cube with both inclined and straight edges. The straight lines of the building’s exterior separate as they move inward, becoming curvilinear and fluid, generating a free-formed interior canyon that serves as the central public plaza. All the other facilities of the LLC are housed within a single volume that also divides, becoming two separate ribbons that wind around each other to enclose this glazed gathering space.

“I am delighted to be working in Vienna as I have a close affiliation with the city. As a centre of research, the Library and Learning Centre is forum for the exchange of ideas. It is very exciting for us to be part of the University’s expansion.” states Zaha Hadid.

Rector of the University of Economics & Business, Christoph Badelt said “A library and learning center should be more than a mere library in the classical sense: it is a research and a service facility, a workplace and lounge, a place of communication and a traffic hub, at one and the same time. With its breathtaking architecture, the design by Zaha Hadid manages to combine all the key functions of study in a most wonderful way. It is a vision that embodies this innovative concept of a university.”

PROGRAM: The LLC comprises a “Learning Center” with workplaces, lounges and cloakrooms, library, a language laboratory, training classrooms, administration offices, study services and central supporting services, copy shop, book shop, data center, cafeteria, event area, clubroom and auditorium.

CLIENT: University of Economics Vienna

ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects

Design: Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher

Project Architect: Cornelius Schlotthauer

Project Team: Marc-Philipp Nieberg, Kristoph Nowak, Enrico Kleinke, Stefan Rinnebach, Niels Kespohl, Jan Hübener, Romy Heiland, Richard Baumgartner

CONSULTANTS:

Structural Engineers: Arup Berlin

M&E Engineers: Arup Berlin

Façade Engineers: Arup Berlin

Cost Consultant: ATP Wien

Fire protection: HHP West, Bielefeld

Render Studio: Vectorvision, Leipzig

SIZE: 28.000m² net area ，42.000m² gross area (205.000m³) ，136m length

Competiton

Two phase competition with six competitors in the first phase and three in the second phase.

1st prize: Zaha Hadid Architects

2nd prize: Morphosis

3rd prize: Prof. Hans Hollein

Other competitors: Studio Massimiliano Fuksas; Kada Wittfeld Studio

Start first phase: August 2008

Start second phase: October 2008

Decision: November 2008

Jury: Wolf D. Prix (head of jury)

Dietmar Eberle

Laura P. Spinadel (BUS Architekten, new campus masterplanner)

Peter Ehrenberger

Sepp Frank

Brian Cody