Offices made of wood: PORR starts with the first part of the LeopoldQuartier in Vienna

After the foundation stone has just been laid in Vienna's LeopoldQuartier urban development area, things are getting underway: PORR is constructing a pioneering ten-storey office building in timber hybrid construction on behalf of project developer UBM Development. It will utilise 2,800m3 of timber. This will bind 2,800 tonnes ofCO2 in the long term.

"The LeopoldQuartier is a particularly impressive example of how building for the needs of a modern city works," says PORR CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss. "The timber-hybrid construction method reduces emissions in the long term and conserves raw materials. PORR is playing a key role in this with the construction of the first building section."

Europe's first timber-hybrid urban quarter is being built on almost three hectares of land on the Danube Canal in Vienna. Thomas G. Winkler, CEO of UBM Development AG, says: "Wood is the building material of the 21st century. And Vienna is at the forefront with the LeopoldQuartier." As general contractor for the first part of the LeopoldQuartier OFFICE, PORR is realising a green lighthouse project on behalf of UBM Development: the office building offers space for around 22,000m2 of floor space on ten storeys as well as 127 car parking spaces.

Wood used according to its strengths.

The special thing about it is that the office building's load-bearing structure will be built using a timber hybrid construction method with timber elements from the 1st floor up to the last 9th floor. Wood hybrid means that the building materials wood, reinforced concrete and steel are used according to their strengths and advantages.
A total of approx. 2,800m3 of timber will be used in the new office building. "This pioneering building will therefore bind 2,800 tonnes ofCO2in the long term," says Strauss. This includes 17,000m2 of timber-concrete composite ceilings made of solid cross-laminated timber with concrete topping and approx. 700 glulam columns.

Sustainable energy concept.

The energy concept is also sustainable: the entire LeopoldQuartier project is supplied by 200 geothermal probes and three well systems, also provided by PORR, as well as photovoltaics and heating/cooling sails in the offices.

DGNB Gold certification is planned for the LeopoldQuartier OFFICE.

The construction presents a number of structural challenges, including the serial construction of the LeopoldQuartier and the tight inner-city location. These require precise synchronisation of the planning and construction process and "just-in-time" supply to the construction site. To ensure that these important processes run smoothly, methods from LEAN design, LEAN construction and also those from LEAN logistics are used. The PORR subsidiary pde Integrale Planung, which also plays a key role in the timber construction engineering for the OFFICE and the structural engineering for the entire LeopoldQuartier, is responsible for managing the LEAN processes.

Timber relay race and fundraising campaign to lay the foundation stone.

Incidentally, the first two wooden elements for the LeopoldQuartier were brought to Vienna in a particularly environmentally friendly manner during the laying of the foundation stone: In a relay race from the Drau Valley in Carinthia to the Danube Canal in Vienna, 24 employees from PORR, UBM and the two timber producers Theurl and Hasslacher brought the timber to the construction site: on foot and by bicycle. The wooden elements were placed in a ceramic time capsule made by "Werkstatt 2" of Lebenshilfe Wien and symbolically transformed into "foundation stones". In a joint fundraising campaign, the companies then donated a total of 10,600 euros to "Werkstatt 2" - 10 euros per kilometre covered.