Volkshilfe Hafen: Project presentation

A social and ecological lighthouse project

Volkshilfe Wien, together with the developers BNP/AURIS/BDN and the architectural firm Treberspurg & Partner, won a developer competition in July 2018 to build a house at Heiligenstädter Straße 182. Situated near the Danube, this house will become a haven for people with different stories, for different target groups.

Architecture & Urban Design

In keeping with the site along the densely populated Heiligenstädter Strasse in Vienna-Döbling, the five-story building optimally fills the spandrel between Heiligenstädter Strasse and Eisenbahnstrasse. The large glass surfaces on the ground floor create permeability and continuity, opening the building to the street space. At the top of the plot is a small, attractive Schanigarten in the public space in front. 

Ecology and economy

The house does not use any fossil fuels at all and is innovative and resource-saving at the same time. The building is designed according to the lowest energy standard with a construction method that minimizes heat loss and has a component activation system for heating and cooling the ceilings. Photovoltaic modules will be placed on the roof surfaces. 

The "harbor"

The Volkshilfe Hafen will be both a house for the residents in the neighborhood and, through its diverse use, an important location for Volkshilfe Wien itself. Volkshilfe has been helping people in need in its daily work since 1947.

"Eliminating disadvantages - enabling success" is the central guiding principle of its activities. The Volkshilfe House in Heiligenstädter Strasse is intended to form an integral part of this strategy and this basic idea and to enable Volkshilfe to expand its activities and to further optimize its support services. In this way, a variety of uses and user groups are to be united in the house, but also make a positive contribution to the rest of the population, to the district and to Vienna. The residential units on the upper floors provide living space for a wide variety of user groups and needs.