Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, AT

Cutting-edge architecture for cutting-edge research

ATP architects engineers has won 1st prize in the Europe-wide competition for the expansion of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg – Maria Gugging. The competition was organized by the Province of Lower Austria, which is responsible for the realization of the infrastructure on the IST Austria campus. The outstanding design by the integrated design office is a strong signal for sustainability and for the future of cutting-edge research in Austria.

The Province of Lower Austria and the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) have been developing the campus of IST Austria in Klosterneuburg - Maria Gugging since 2006. IST Austria uses the facility for basic research in the natural sciences and postgraduate training.

The research carried out by IST Austria at its Klosterneuburg campus already enjoys a global reputation. The current construction phase, which should last until 2036, will expand the campus further so that it can be home to 1,500 active researchers. In the Europe-wide competition, the Province of Lower Austria and the Federal Government invited designs for a new structure consisting of two laboratory buildings, an office building, a cafeteria, a learning center, and a parking garage. The jury has now awarded first place to the convincing project by ATP architects engineers and ATP sustain.

A campus for people
The key requirement for the expansion of IST Austria was to create a setting that facilitates top teaching and research performance and sets international standards. “The laboratory of the future must be more than a scientific location. It must embody openness, communication, and sustainability. Our design is based on these high expectations,” says Dario Travaš, ATP Partner and Head of Design at ATP Vienna. 

The jury was particularly convinced by the architectural measures that seek to incorporate this self-image by promoting interdisciplinary exchange, such as ATP’s interpretation of the central reception as a climatic entrée with spray showers and water elements. Designed as a communication-friendly landscape of steps and terraces, this area guides visitors between LAB 6 and LAB 7 to the newly created platform and offers connections with the roof landscape and the ART BRUT-Museum Gugging.

A pacesetter for climate neutrality
“As with all our projects, this design also actively and consciously encourages the use of sustainable materials and energy-efficient products and acknowledges the environmentally-friendly use of resources,” adds Travaš, explaining the ecologically responsible design approach that became standard two years ago for ATP and ATP sustain, its in-house research company in the fields of sustainable building and building physics, in the form of the so-called “ATP Green Deal”.

This particular aspiration was also specially honored by the jury through its unanimous award of maximum points in the “sustainability” category. In addition to the energy-efficient building envelope, the use of geothermal energy, and the functionally optimized operation of the facility, the jury protocol also specifically praised the climate-sensitive design of the external spaces, the use of material excavated from the site to model the landscape, the choice of composite timber slabs, and the “mixed-in-place process,” which also reduces site traffic.

Sought-after certification: klimaaktiv GOLD

