architek[tour] tirol – der architekturführer für tirol

The small ensemble of vicarage, mortuary chapel and village square forms the new spatial centre of Mathon, a hamlet of Ischgl. The two new buildings – the solid-timber vicarage clad in larch shingles and the sculptural exposed-concrete volume of the mortuary chapel – are slightly offset from one another at the edges of the square and deliberately relate to each other and to their Alpine setting in terms of positioning, height and roof form.

The primary school on Wattens’ Kirchplatz was conceived as a simple, clearly defined volume that confidently integrates into the heterogeneous urban fabric and opens invitingly towards the town through a deeply recessed entrance. The heart of the school is a top-lit atrium, its interior and exterior both defined by the timber construction. A generous stair landscape connects the flexible learning environments on the upper floors.

The Klösterle - an abandoned monastery in the centre of Imst - had stood empty for decades. Its proximity to the Gurgltal care centre made it ideal for conversion – a potential that STUDIO LOIS made use of through their renovation and extension. The listed building was carefully revitalised for assisted living and a new wing was built behind it, connecting the Klösterle to the existing nursing home.

Several educational institutions belonging to the Sisters of Mercy school association are housed in a building complex dating back to the 1930s. In the course of the most recent renovation, conversion and expansion measures, this heterogeneous building stock situation was resolved. A façade made of translucent polycarbonate panels consolidates the various existing buildings; the interior was returned to its concrete structure and complemented with natural materials.

In 2014, the religious order of the Sisters of Mercy in Innsbruck decided to renovate and expand the facilities of the former girls’ boarding school to make accommodation available to people who fled their home countries. Under the premise of using the existing means as best as possible, the girls’ boarding school dating from the 1960s underwent a general refurbishment according to plans by STUDIO LOiS, who added an annex and a stairwell. The makeover ostensibly did not center on design issues, but much more on combining and reacting to cheaply available resources.