BOMB - Bombardier housing project

Until a few years ago rail vehicles were built on the premises of the bombardier factory in Vienna´s 21st district. Then, the extensive site was converted into a wide green urban space with state subsidized housing.

The team of gerner°gerner plus architects in collaboration with the developer Heimbau was finalist in the competition for the site masterplan and was selected to realize one of the housing projects.

The particularity of this housing project is the great variety of different apartments - each with its own free space, either as a balcony, loggia, (roof-)terrace or as a tenant´s garden.

It also features a wide range of different common rooms such as a “hobby room”, a wellness area with sauna, laundry rooms and bicycle rooms as well as indoor and outdoor playgrounds.

Being perfectly connected to the urban infrastructure, the building is surrounded by a park area at the same time.

Following the urban masterplan the architects developed a u-shaped structure on a slim base. This generates large, partly covered free space and a courtyard as a space of communication.

Despite its great volume the building appears surprisingly lightweight and dynamic because of its particular shape. This effect gets emphasized through linear differentiation of the facade and through ingeniously combining white plaster and green fiber-cement panels.

Natural illumination is key to the concept. It determines the characteristical sloped shape of the side wings and the glazed basement housing the common rooms.

Vertical cutouts lead the daylight far into the buidling. The lucid and bright staircases with levelbridging lines of view have been designed as additional public space.

The layouts of the apartments are highly flexible with a view to changing requirements - the configuration can easily be adaptable within the massive framework and its continuous ribbon windows.

The premises feature a large park area. Each building offers separated outdoor areas dedicated to retreat and recreation. Playspaces for children and youth are integrated into the park.

While nursery and primary school are built right on site, other infrastructure such as secondary schools, shops and healthcare facilities, is located nearby. The underground parking provides ample parking space.