Regional court St. Pölten
The Golden Mask
In terms of urban planning, the new extension closes the existing gap between the historic courthouse and the neighbouring prison. It complements the listed building in a coherent way with contemporary architecture, which on the one hand asserts itself as an independent solitaire, while on the other hand respecting the historical context and mediating between old and new. The three storeys of the old building are connected barrier-free to the new, five-storey structure, whose eaves height is taken up. This new building will primarily house offices for the Higher Regional Court, the public prosecutor's office and the district court. The forecourt of the existing building will be upgraded to an attractive, urban open space with a high quality of stay and an integrated underground car park.
Placement
1st prize competition 2007
Location
St. Pölten, Austria
Building owner
BIG
Size
2633 m² GFA
The architectural concept
The design concept divides the spatial programme of the extension into serving and serviced areas. This results in two separate structures: the main structure exclusively accommodates offices and the official library, while the service structure houses the stairwell, lift, toilets and server rooms. This functional separation allows for greater flexibility inside the main building. At the same time, the secondary structure plays a central role in the barrier-free connection to the old building and in the architectural mediation between the existing and new buildings.
Façade as a mask
In the field of tension between old and new, the façade plays a central role as an interface between inside and outside, between building and urban space. It mediates between the opposites of tabula rasa and contextual integration, of the monolithic and the differentiated, of singularity and plurality. The façade resolves these ambivalences through a symbiosis of perforated and horizontally structured surfaces: it levels out the discrepancy between the number of storeys of the two structures and regulates the scale of the new building, which maximises its surface area. Wrapped in TECU Gold, it follows a horizontal band structure created by overlapping the joints of the old building and the new floor divisions. It is additionally perforated by deliberately scattered openings reduced to two formats. This gives the new building a "mask" that references the existing building on the one hand and preserves the greatest possible openness for the internal organisation on the other.
“The natural sheen of the material gives the building a pleasant, warm character that changes continuously with the changing light conditions throughout the day and seasons – literally bringing the building to life.”
Contemporary articulation
Overall, the new building incorporates the characteristics of the historic one, but without sacrificing an independent, unmistakable and contemporary articulation. The inherent lustre of the material gives the building a pleasant and warm character that changes continuously with the rhythm of the day and the seasonal changes in light conditions, literally bringing the building to life.
