“There is so much potential in renovation!”
HOLZMAGAZIN Report
Architecture, 29.08.2024
Simone Steurer
“The potential of the renovation is incredible!” You can hear architect Christoph Mösl’s enthusiasm when he talks about the conversion of the “U-TURN” youth residence. In 2019, the board of “Rettet das Kind Salzburg”, the organization that runs the socio-pedagogical youth residence in Obertrum near Salzburg, approached the planning office m3 ZT from Abersee/Salzburg.
The existing solid construction from the 1970s was to be modernized and restructured. The ground floor and second floor were inhabited at this time, the cellar was used for storage and the attic was completely unused. “The substance of the existing building was crack-free and structurally sound. That’s why we decided to keep the load-bearing structure but remove everything else,” says Christoph Mösl. “And everything that has been rebuilt is made of wood.”
/// Lots of larch and more space
In concrete terms, this means that all new or offset walls were constructed using timber frame construction on the inside and cross-laminated timber on the outside, clad with larch wood panels. The floor, the doors and the windows were finished in larch, as was all the solid wood furniture.
The building has been restructured so that daily communal life continues to take place on the first floor and the upper floor houses the private rooms of the young people, who are between 13 and 21 years old.
The architects were able to create more space by moving the entrance, changing rooms and leisure and sports areas to the basement. Thanks to the excavation of a shrub embankment on the slope, the cellar now gives the impression of a first floor. A perforated larch ceiling also ensures pleasant acoustics. The basement leads to a small inner courtyard, which has been converted into a leisure and basketball court.
/// Award for refurbishment with wood
The previously unused attic was made usable by raising the roof truss by 75 cm. It provides space for a quiet home manager’s office, a larger meeting room and a crisis room for a separate care facility when needed. The purlin rafter roof construction was also fitted with an in-roof PV system on a timber substructure.
The external appearance should also reflect wood. Larch wood shingles were chosen for the weathered façade and larch wood cladding (vertical rebate cladding on a wooden substructure) for the covered entrance area. For the exterior walls of the new extensions in the 1. and Cross laminated timber was used for the 2nd floor. Rock wool was used for the insulation.
The existing, no longer desired balconies running all the way around were interrupted by enlarging the floor plan of two rooms. Horizontal slatted cladding with different spacing provides fall protection and a visual finish to the façade.
The refurbishment was completed in spring 2023. m3 ZT was delighted to win the Big See Wood Design Award 2023 for the implementation of the project.
/// Data
- Project: U-TURN youth residence in Obertrum
- Location: Obertrum, Salzburg, Austria
- Architecture: m3-Ziviltechniker GmbH
- Timber construction: Eder Holzbau
- Client: Save the Child Salzburg
- Total area: 708m2
- Completion: 2023
