HBLA für Tourismus St. Johann in Tirol
A new floor was added in the form of a striking horizontal slab above this school building from the 1980s that had become too small. The intermediate zone between old and new creates a large, covered terrace landscape for learning and relaxation.
Located near the town center of St. Johann in Tyrol, the tourism school forms a campus together with other educational institutions. The additionally required 1 500 square meters of space was packed into a structurally independent panoramic floor that appears to float above the existing building like a slightly rotated tabletop, transforming it into a new, clearly defined volume. Since the existing structure remained largely untouched, it was possible to add the extension while the school was in operation.
A redesigned forecourt, adapted to the sloping terrain, significantly improves the school’s entrance situation. Visitors now approach along tall, slender exposed-concrete walls that support the new slab level, rising gently towards the entrance at the southeast corner. The ground floor has been retained as a functional dining area; the central two‑story hall with a surrounding gallery provides insights into the modern teaching and individual workstation kitchens. In this context, the cafeteria more resembles a fine-dining restaurant than a conventional school lunchroom.
The first upper floor houses the administration, teachers’ offices, the library, and computer rooms. Elements of the original building, such as the reddish-brown terrazzo floors and the semicircular staircase, were carefully integrated into the new spatial design.
The newly built second floor accommodates the homeroom classrooms. Sixteen of them are arranged in a ring along the building perimeter, while two are “suspended” in the open center of the structure—dubbed the “aquarium classrooms” by the students. The distorted square footprint generates wide, trapezoidal hallway spaces with generous areas for movement and seating groups, forming an airy learning landscape in front of the classrooms, most of which have floor-to-ceiling glazing. Three vertical cuts draw daylight into the building core and establish visual connections downward to the old structure. The spatial assembly and atmosphere of the new level is strongly shaped by the expressive steel truss structure. Massive V‑shaped supports and exposed beams create a contemporary and powerful spatial atmosphere that resonates with the school’s vocational profile. The effect is underscored by the raw materiality of exposed concrete and the tactile warmth of wood. Finally, in the horizontal space above the existing building and below the new slab, a very special recreational landscape opens up for students and teachers: A spacious wooden terrace with a gently sloping, undulating topography draws relaxation and variety into daily school life. Its mirrored ceiling reflects the wood floor, distorting it into dynamic, wave-like patterns. With this conversion, the architects have impressively succeeded in bringing light, air, and vitality into the school building and its processes, despite the increased density.
[ Am Wilden Kaiser Tourism Schools, Higher Federal College for Tourism, St. Johann in Tirol ] Architecture: wiesflecker-architekten ZT GmbH. Client: BIG Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft m. b. H., on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Structural engineering: ZSZ Ingenieure ZT GmbH. Procurement procedure: Open, single-stage design competition with implementation (above EU threshold). Planning and construction period: 2012–2017. Usable floor area: 7 733 m². Address: Neubauweg 9, 6380 St. Johann in Tirol, Tyrol.